Princeton wins at last

Joe Scott's Tigers snapped their own eight game losing skid by wining their ninth straight over Columbia Friday night. Princeton won 68-64 in overtime thanks to a slew of foul shots in the waning minutes.

The Lions had a golden opportunity with 12 seconds remaining. Down two, Dalen Cuff tried to inbound the ball under his own basket. When he couldn't find an open man, the senior guard called a timeout. One problem, though, Columbia was out of timeouts. Scott Greenman hit both shots of the ensuing technical foul to give Princeton its final margin. Oddly enough, moments later the same thing nearly happened in the Sixers-Celtics game at the Wachovia Center involving who else but Chris Webber.

Columbia held Princeton without a field goal for the final 10 minutes of regulation. The only reason the Tigers were in it was a 26-of-34 performance from the foul line. Princeton hit more foul shots than field goals (17-of-38 from the field including 8-of-23 from three).

The Tigers are now 3-10 on the year, but they are 1-0 in the column that counts. The upside for Penn: Columbia should be awfully tired by the time they hit the Palestra Saturday night.

Best part of the game for me was ESPNU's Hubert Brown saying "This really is the best the Ivy League has to offer -- Columbia and Princeton." He sounded serious, and that's just scary.