Feb. 25, 2005
NEW YORK - Princeton's Luke Owings scored 14 points in a stretch of 7:38 of the second half to key the Tigers to a 68-59 triumph over the Lions in Levien Gym. For Columbia, John Baumann scored 14 points for a career high for the second straight contest.
Owings started his surge with a put-back that gave Princeton the lead for good with 13:51 left to play. The basket, which marked the seventh lead change of the contest, made the score 39-38 in favor of Princeton and started a 26-12 run for the Tigers (13-11, 4-6 Ivy). Princeton was 10 of 10 from the free throw line during that 12-minute stretch as part of a string of 16 consecutive made free throws by the Tigers.
Columbia pulled within three points with 5:15 left to play when senior Matt Preston hit a short jumper on the left side to make the score 53-50, but the Tigers ran off 10 unanswered points over the next 3:24.
The first half featured four ties and five lead changes. Princeton led from 19:07 of the first half until 10:37. The Lions tied the score at 7:58 on a left-side jumper by Brett Loscalzo. Columbia (12-12, 3-8 Ivy) mounted its biggest lead at 32-24 at 2:42 after an 8-0 run, and Princeton would only lead for three seconds for the duration of the half. However, it was the final three seconds of the half, as the Tigers' Scott Greenman capped a 10-0 run by sinking two free throws to end the period.
Baumann was six-of-seven from the floor for the game en route to his team-high 14 points. He added a team-high five rebounds, which tied him with fellow first-year Ben Nwachukwu. Jeremiah Boswell added 13 points on five-of-seven shooting.
The Lions shot 52.3 percent (23-44) for the game, but were outdone by Princeton's 54.1 percent (20-37). The Tigers hit 21-of-27 free-throw attempts, compared the Columbia's eight-of-12. The Lions did hold a sizable 26-17 edge in rebounding. Owings led all scorers with 19.
Columbia hosts league-leading Penn tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. Twelve-hundred Columbia student seats have been put aside; students may gain entry to Levien Gym beginning at 6 p.m.
