Controversial call leaves Tigers just short
By: Justin Feil
PHILADELPHIA Joe Scott is tired, even bored, after seeing the same teams from the same conferences on ESPN.
"Everybody plays the same way," said the Princeton University men’s basketball head coach. "Nobody wants to guard each other. Scores are in the 90s. Nobody tries to defend."
The scores were in the 90s again when Scott’s Tigers visited Temple on Monday night before an ESPN audience, but it was the combined score of 94 as the Owls held off Princeton, 48-46. It was basketball the way it used to be played, according to Temple coach John Chaney, who Monday coached in his 1,000th career game.
"I think what these two teams do is good," said Scott, who coached his 122nd game Monday. "If you want to say it’s different, I believe it’s basketball. It’s fundamentally sound, good hard basketball, trying to stop the other teams from scoring and playing to win. That’s what it’s about. It’s not about all the other things."
Scott and most who saw the game would agree that the Tigers deserved five more minutes to show if they could win. The game should have ended somewhere in the 100s, but Will Venable’s layup that replays showed clearly was goaltended by Temple’s Dustin Salisbery was ruled a clean block with less than a second in regulation. It was an early Christmas present for Temple.
"They did the things they had to to win the game," said Scott after his team fell to 5-3. "I thought we did the things we had to to win the game. We had a couple turnovers that were avoidable, I think. Then maybe (without them) on the road you’re not in a situation where somebody is having a say in the outcome of the game that really shouldn’t have a say in the outcome of the game."
Venable, along with freshman Noah Savage, led the slow-starting Tigers with 12 points. The senior guard played all 40 minutes of the game. It was Venable’s assist to Scott Greenman for a three-pointer with 14.5 seconds left that brought Princeton within a point, 47-46, after they had trailed 34-23 with under 11 minutes to go in the second half. Venable fouled Temple’s Mardy Collins, who made one of two free throws with 10.2 ticks left to finish with a game-high 25, before Venable drove by Collins for the would-be game-tying layup.
"I saw my 6-4 guard with his elbow above the rim, shooting the ball off the top of the square, hitting the backboard and then their guy swiping it off the backboard," Scott said. "So the ball is obviously going down when you lay it off the top of the square.
"Everybody in the gym knew it was a goaltending call. The refs didn’t call it and Temple won. But I think Temple won because Mardy Collins played a really good game and (Mark) Tyndale, for a freshman out there, hit some big shots down the stretch, and hit his foul shots."
Princeton, which was perfect from the foul line in a four-point win over Monmouth the week before, was a respectable 9-for-13 from the charity stripe, but every miss cost them in the two-point decision. The Tigers also missed 19 of the 26 three-pointers they attempted against Temple’s matchup zone. Venable was the only Tiger player to shoot above 50 percent Monday. The Owls connected on five of their 10 shots from beyond the arc against Princeton’s similar matchup zone.
"Collins played a really good game," Scott said. "He’s tough to guard. He made some big shots. Some other guys made some big shots. I think we did too. We made some big shots down the stretch to give ourselves a chance.
"We should be playing overtime. It should be going on. But it’s not. That’s what happens in this game. Temple did the things that they had to do to win the basketball game. They put themselves in the right position to win the basketball game. We could have done that better over the course of 40 minutes, and if we had, then maybe that call wouldn’t have had an impact on the game."
Princeton had a week to reflect on the shouldas and couldas from Monday. The Tigers hit the road again for the Sun Bowl Classic in El Paso, Texas. They’ll face Tulane in the tournament opener 11 p.m. Monday and then face either host UTEP or Alabama State in Tuesday’s consolation or championship game.
The time provides another week for Andre Logan and Luke Owings to continue their recoveries. Owings was not suited up for the Temple game, while Logan sported a knee brace when checking in for his first action of the season with 12:43 to go in the first half. In 14 minutes, the senior forward missed his only shot, had one steal, one block, one assist and two turnovers.
"I see a rusty, rusty guy who needs to practice more, he needs to get in more game situations," Scott said. "It was a tough game for him to come back, facing that zone. They played that zone pretty well tonight. They have good size and make it difficult to pass. Not having played for so long, I think he’s rusty and he needs to keep working and stay healthy because obviously if he keeps working and stays healthy we’re going to get the benefit of having him back.
"To be honest, I really didn’t expect that much out of him. It almost seemed like he played his minutes already, he had enough and I might have left him in a little long. It’s going to be a work in progress bringing him up to speed to where the rest of our guys are. But when he does get there, he’s really going to help us."
And that will make Scott’s job easier, and help him get a lot closer to joining Chaney in coaching a milestone number of games, though 1,000 is far more than Scott has ever considered.
"It means two things," Scott said. "Unfortunately, you’re getting up there. And, they don’t let you do anything that long unless you’re really really good at what you’re doing. I think that’s the highest compliment to what (Chaney’s) done."
Chaney would have you believe that he got there by avoiding the likes of Princeton. The two teams had never before met in his coaching reign, and hadn’t played since the 1974-75 season. It may be another 29 years before they meet again.
"I’m glad John agreed to play it," Scott said. "I don’t know if either of us wanted to play it. I think it was a hard-fought game. That’s what college basketball is about."

