Tigers’ senior sniper nets 18 of 21 points in second half comeback
By: Justin Feil
The first matchup between the Harvard and Princeton men’s basketball teams was a seesaw affair that went to the wire before the Tigers pulled it out, 50-48. Saturday’s second meeting between the teams played out the same way for nearly 30 minutes until Princeton took the lead, 41-40, on a give-and-go backdoor Will Venable backdoor layup from Konrad Wysocki with 11:19 to play. Princeton never trailed again in a 70-59 win.
For the second time this season, Mike Bechtold led the Tigers in scoring against the Crimson. The Princeton senior co-captain scored 11 points in the Tigers’ win Jan. 11, and he put on a show for the 6,123 in attendance at Jadwin Saturday as he scored 18 of his 21 in the second half to help Princeton fight back from a 30-23 halftime deficit.
"We ran a couple things for him to startm and he banged them," said PU head coach John Thompson. "You could just tell he was feeling it. He kind of understands. He’s a senior. He understands what’s at stake."
With the win, Princeton improved to 12-9 overall, 7-2 in Ivy play, one loss behind Ivy League leader Yale, which beat Columbia, 76-56, to stay once-beaten in league. Harvard dropped to 12-10 overall, 5-5 in league.
It wasn’t just Bechtold that seemed to understand the importance of the game. Dominick Martin picked Saturday as his day to shine. The freshman center had his first double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He scored three points and had two rebounds in the teams’ first meeting.
"The big fella’ is going to be a very, very, very good basketball player," Thompson said. "He’s been making steady progress of late. He went after balls. Offensively, he’s settled down. Our guys in the last couple weeks are having more confidence in him."
Martin gave Princeton a third offensive weapon Saturday. Sophomore guard Ed Persia came off the bench for his second straight strong relief appearance. He started and played the entire second half and gave the Tigers 11 points, two assists and a pair of steals.
"Princeton executed their halfcourt game in the second half when it counted," said Harvard head coach Frank Sullivan, who saw his team officially eliminated from the Ivy race. "They always have a way of finding their man in rhythm. Michael was dead on."
By halftime, it looked like Princeton was the team clinging to life support as they shot just 42 percent and appeared frustrated at times by the Crimson’s physical play. Princeton is 1-9 this season in games when it shoots under 46 percent from the field. Harvard’s Patrick Harvey hit his last five three-pointers of the half to lead both teams with 17 points at the break, but he finished with 23 thanks to Princeton’s halftime changes.
"Without a doubt, our effort was up in the second half," Thompson said. "We went from a zone to man-to-man. Harvey’s a terrific player. When he’s open, he makes it. When you guard him closely, he creates."
An 8-0 run to begin the second half, capped by Ahmed El-Nokali’s three-pointer with 17:09 to play, gave the Tigers a short-lived lead, 31-30. Seven lead changes followed before the Tigers used a 9-2 lead, beginning with the Wysocki to Venable layup, to take a 48-42 lead with 8:03 to play.
Harvard never got closer than four points, and the Tigers maintained at least a seven-point advantage for the final three minutes of the game.
"I think the team was fired up," said Martin, who also had a block and a steal in 25 minutes of work. "The intensity in the second half did it."
After the Tigers took a 4-0 lead while holding Harvard scoreless for the first four minutes, 27 seconds of the game, there were 11 lead changes in the first half alone before the Crimson took over the final seven minutes of the half.
Harvard used an 11-0 run to take a 30-20 lead with 1:21 to go in the half before Ed Persia connected on a three-pointer to cut the halftime deficit to 30-23.
Mike Bechtold became just the ninth player in Tigers history to make 100 three-pointers when he made one with 13:28 to play. The shot gave Princeton a 37-36 lead.
"I really wasn’t worried about it," said Bechtold, who now has 102 career three-pointers. "I was hoping it was eventually going to come. I was (near 100) for a while. I wasn’t really worried about it. If it came, it came. It wasn’t really one of my major goals. I’m happy I achieved it, but I’m not really harping on it.
"I was feeling it at that point and to hear the announcement, it kind of clicked in the back of my head and gave me another boost of confidence. Next time I caught the ball, I felt good."
And No. 101 was quickly on its way, and the Tigers were on their way to another win at Jadwin. Princeton has not lost to Harvard at Jadwin Gym since 1988.
Princeton hosts its final home games of the regular season next weekend. Ivy League-leading Yale visits 7:30 p.m. Friday followed by Brown 7:30 p.m. Saturday.