box score
audio - coach sydney johnson & noah savage

A crestfallen Marcus Schroeder put his head in his hands, then pulled his black jersey over his face, turning away from the court and leaning against press row.

An open three point shot by the Princeton sophomore guard to win the game at the end of overtime had skipped off the rim as Brown completed a ten point comeback that began with less than eight minutes to play.

The Bears survived 65-63 on Saturday night to stay two games behind Cornell in the race for the Ivy League title with six games left on the schedule.

"This was a very gusty win for our team," stated Brown head coach and former Princeton star Craig Robinson after the game. "Good teams can win on the road when they don't play well and that's what happened tonight."

It was the same painful story for the Tigers, who lost their fifth in a row as they again could not close out an opponent.

Princeton missed the front end of a one-and-one situation and went one-for-two at the line three times in the last two minutes of regulation. Noah Savage, who scored a career-best 35 and tossed in seven three pointers in 11 attempts, split four of these free throws as the Tigers tried to hold off the Bears.

"Down the stretch their captain was tough enough to make his free throws and I didn't make mine," said a dejected Savage.

Johnson felt similarly about the way Princeton executed in the waning moments. "If we took care of the things we're supposed to take care of there wouldn't have been last second this or that."

Savage's miss at the line with 1:02 remaining set the stage for a three point shot by Peter Sullivan as fellow Princeton co-captain Kyle Koncz raced out on him that tied the score at 52.

Jason Briggs, in on defense for Lincoln Gunn, was fouled by Chris Skrelja as the ball went through the hoop and could only connect on his first attempt at the opposite stripe.

When Koncz and center Zach Finley double-teamed Matt Mullery on the right block, Mullery calmly found Damon Huffman cutting to the hole for a layup with 20 seconds on the clock that put Brown in front for the first time since the score was 9-8.

Savage's seventh three pointer, dead on from well beyond the arc out of a Tiger time out pushed Princeton up 59-57 with 10 ticks left. Huffman raced the length of the court as no Tiger defenders could slow down or cut off his path to the basket. Finley, the last line of defense, fouled Huffman going up for the shot, which somehow spun out around the iron after teasing going down. Finley, who was Princeton's only other player besides Savage in double figures with 12 points, was disqualified.

Huffman knotted the score with these two free throws.

It was Kevin Steuerer who had an unabated path into the lane right before the buzzer sounded, but his one-handed runner to win ticked off the rim as time ran out.

In overtime, shots started coming up short for both teams as two games in two days appeared to catch up with the respective squads. Mullery could not force his hook over the rim. Savage did not have enough on a Princeton drive. An Adrian Williams drive was missing something and Koncz could not finish inside.

Finally, with 3:08 remaining, Mark McAndrew, the Ivy League's leading scorer, hit on a runner. McAndrew finished with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, one of four Bears starters in double figures. At the other end of the floor Savage drove on Mullery and was fouled, converting both free throws.

After single free throws by McAndrew and Mullery, Savage made a short turnaround jumper in the post as his defender fell to the ground looking to get the referee to call a charge that tied the score at 63.

Adrian Williams took a dish on the right side and was fouled by Steuerer on his way to the basket with 40 seconds to go. Steuerer fouled out, replaced by Lincoln Gunn. Both of Williams' attempts were good.

Princeton went for the win with 20 seconds on the clock, but Savage could not get a pull-up three to go down. Koncz fouled Damon Huffman and to the surprise of all the 83% free throw shooter missed both attempts.

Princeton held for the final look. With a second remaining, a cluttered left side of the wing suddenly parted and Schroeder had a clear view of the basket from a step behind the three point line. His shot was on target but would not find its way through the cylinder as time expired.

Another crushing defeat in a seven day span of five different setbacks.

Asked by a reporter following one more come-from-ahead defeat if the Brown game was the hardest to take in his four years at Princeton, a chapfallen Savage disagreed. "We've had a lot of close losses - too many, and this one is bad...but every loss is terrible."

Notes:

-Jason Briggs made his first career start for Princeton, replacing Lincoln Gunn in the line-up. Briggs and Gunn continued to platoon on offense and defense, with Gunn coming off the bench to match his career high of 7 assists. Gunn also had five of Princeton's 10 turnovers.

-The Tigers recorded 17 assists against these 10 giveaways.

-Princeton shot 23-54 for the night (42.6%) and was 9-29 from behind the arc (31.0%). If you subtract Noah Savage's performance, Princeton was a frigid 12-37 and 2-18 in those two categories. The Tigers were 8-13 from the free throw line (61.5%) on the game and just 4-9 in the second half.

-While Noah Savage was having a career offensive night, fellow Tiger sharpshooter Kyle Koncz was 1-9 from the perimeter.

-Princeton led 49-39 on a swing pass by Gunn to Savage for three with 7:52 remaining and 53-46 with 4:53 to play when Savage connected from the top of the arc after Schroeder freed up space on a drive.

-Brown attempted 34 free throws to Princeton's 13. Craig Robinson said the Bears' m.o. as a team is to get to the free throw line. According to their coach, last season no team got a larger percentage of its points from the line than Brown.

-Savage's 35 points were the most by a Princeton player since "Moon" Mullin tallied 38 against San Diego in the preliminary round of the 1984 NCAA tournament.

-Savage's total was the most points scored at Jadwin Gym by a Princeton player since Geoff Petrie had 39 against Davidson back in 1970.

-Brown swept Princeton and Penn on the road for the first time in school history.

-Princeton will travel to Harvard on Friday night looking for their first road win of the season. The game is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.