Kreitz helps life 'Penn' over 'Princeton'

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. -- It wasn't the raucous atmosphere of the Palestra, there weren't any mascots or coaches and one of the teams represented a local bar. The charity basketball game in a tiny gym in Conshohocken, Pa., had nearly every reason to go unnoticed. Except for the fact that Penn finally beat Princeton -- sort of. In Tuesday's second round game of the Super G Gold Medal Basketball Tournament -- which benefits the American Cancer Society and Coaches Versus Cancer -- Valley Forge Asset Management, consisting entirely of former Penn players, took on Mariano's Tavern, whose roster included six former Princeton Tigers. And after losing to Princeton in five straight games, this time Penn -- with former center Tim Krug, guard Donald Moxley and current senior Garett Kreitz all running the floor -- got the upper hand, prevailing 84-79 in double overtime. Despite rather sloppy play, the smallness of the gym which housed about 100 spectators and an aura that was much akin to a friendly pickup game, the contest did not lack the usual drama of an official Penn-Princeton game. After trailing 40-29 early in the second half, Mariano's Tavern -- led by Princeton seniors Steve Goodrich, James Mastaglio and Mitch Henderson, as well as alumnus Chris Mooney -- came back to take a 68-66 lead with under 30 seconds to play. But Kreitz connected on a short jumper with 2.5 seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime. It was Kreitz's third shot of his team's wild final possession. A couple of missed shots pushed the game into a second overtime, where the Penn side finally pulled away and sealed the win. One noted spectator said he enjoyed the event. "It was a lot of fun to see them play on these teams," Penn basketball coach Fran Dunphy said of his former players and rivals. "It's a nice idea for a great cause," he added. A friendly atmosphere prevailed after the game, with members of both teams laughing and rehashing both recent and fairly distant memories. "It's always fun to get together with 'old' guys I played with in college," Moxley said. "Especially playing against guys like Goodrich and Henderson brought back good memories," he added, referring to Penn's domination of Princeton during his Quakers days. Moxley, who said he is keeping in shape to try to play ball overseas, led Penn with 19 points. Kreitz, who added 13 points and 7 rebounds, also explained that it was "great to pay against some Princeton guys." Kreitz's co-captain, senior Jeff Goldstein said he enjoyed playing with the group of alumni, adding that he only found out they were playing "Princeton" the night before the game. And several Princeton players also expressed a sense of excitement in playing against "Penn." "It was good to play against some guys we hadn't played against but had heard about," Princeton senior James Mastaglio said of alumni such as guard Barry Pierce and forward Andy Barrata. "It's always fun to play against Penn," Mastaglio added. "It means a little more than just a pickup game." The Princeton team went on to be beat Stampone and D'Angelo, a team of Saint Joseph's alumni, last night, which means they may play the former Penn stars again in the semifinals of the eight-team tournament next Tuesday.