Princeton ends M. Hoops' season, claims Ivy crown

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Penn men's basketball team finally sent up the white flag last night. It was a season in which the Quakers (12-17, 9-5 Ivy League) won only three non-conference games and had their best win -- according to the RPI -- at home over Brown. Nevertheless, Penn had given itself and its fans hope for a share of the Ancient Eight championship going into the season's final game last night at Jadwin Gymnasium. But the Quakers were beaten badly, 68-52, by Princeton. In the process, the Tigers (16-10, 11-3) claimed their first Ivy League title since the '97-'98 season. "I thought Princeton did a great job tonight," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "They did some great things, made some tough shots. In the first half they made a couple of deep threes -- one by [Mike] Bechtold, one by [Konrad] Wysocki." Those long shots turned out to be very big indeed. After a three-pointer by Princeton's Kyle Wente opened the scoring, senior Lamar Plummer and sophomore David Klatsky hit back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to give the Quakers a lead they would hold for most of the first half. But Bechtold's shot, with 7:42 remaining in the first half, put the Tigers up 18-16, and Penn would never lead again. After Quakers center Geoff Owens tied the game with a two-handed slam dunk, Wysocki hit his long-range bomb to give the Tigers a 21-18 advantage. The teams headed to their locker rooms with Princeton ahead, 31-26. "We talked a lot at halftime," Princeton coach John Thompson III said. "We wanted to do a better job defensively, because they were getting open looks. It seemed like Klatsky, in the first half, had 20 points. We just wanted to cut down on them getting open shots." Klatsky -- who actually had 12 first-half points -- tied his career high with 15 points on the night, but had zero field goals in the second half. "Once you get [inside] and they collapse, you've got to kick it back out and start making jump shots," Dunphy said. "David did a great job of that in the first half, but they weren't going to let him do that too much in the second half." Princeton wouldn't let the Quakers do much of anything in the second half. The Red and Blue tied the score at 31 with 16:47 remaining in the contest. But soon after, the Tigers unleashed a 16-1 run which left the Quakers reeling -- not to mention trailing 56-38 --with just under six minutes left. "There were certain plays we knew we could get," Thompson said of the back-breaking stretch. "And at that point, we came down and we got what we wanted. Every trip down the court, the guys made the shots." Dunphy thought that the Quakers contributed to Princeton's efforts during the run. "We needed to come down and be a little bit more poised, a little more patient on the offensive end," Dunphy said. "We need to take a little bit more time. I thought we rushed some shots." Indicative of the Quakers 10-minute unraveling was this sequence: After six straight Princeton points, all of which came on backdoor layups, Penn called a timeout. Quakers forward Koko Archibong then missed a shot as Ugonna Onyekwe picked up his fourth foul. Princeton guard C.J. Chapman immediately hit a three-pointer, giving the Tigers a 12-point lead and sending the Princeton faithful into an orange frenzy. "I think [the Tigers] made some long shots, they also made a couple of backdoor cuts for layups that hurt us in that one stretch, too," Dunphy said. No wonder, then, the Quakers felt they had to force some offensive opportunities. "You feel like you've got to put your finger in the dike a little bit," Dunphy said. "And that's where, I think, the impatience gets created." Penn hit 8-of-21 threes but was stifled by Princeton in the paint. "I think their defense is geared towards stopping the inside game," Dunphy said. "We don't ever really establish ourselves inside against Princeton. They've done a great job of helping out and doubling down inside."

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