ROUNDBALL DAILY

Ivy League starts off season with overtime thriller between Princeton, Penn

Editor’s Note:

With this posting, RoundballDaily.com resumes its weekly feature about the Ivy League, with game results and up to date standings.

Although we do not do this for other conferences, we believe that in recognition of the wide geographical distribution of its students and alumni, and because the league generally receives little if any national exposure, we can help publicize the games and players for these venerable institutions that, despite no athletic scholarships, play an exciting, highly competitive and skillful brand of basketball.

By: Joel Alderman

Princeton (1-0, 8-5) 68, Pennsylvania (0-1,10-5) 65 (overtime)

The first game of the new season and the only one the first week was this overtime thriller at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym. It matched two of the top teams in the league, who will play a return game a week from today on Jan. 12th on Penn’s court in the Palestra.

The Tigers went up by three when Sebastian Much hit two free throws (1 and 1) with 6.5 left in overtime. But Penn was still able to get off a pair of shots from behind the 3-point arc in an attempt to create another tie before time ran out.

Richmond Aririquzoh had a career-high 20 points for Princeton, which also benefited from a Myles Stephens double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds.

Penn, which was in front 30-29 at the half, had made up an eight-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation and took the lead at 62-61 on a three-pointer by Devon Goodman. Much, the eventual hero, made one of two foul shots to bring the Tigers back to a tie, 62-62 with 39 seconds left. When Princeton missed a shot and two last second tips, the game went into O.T.

Despite losing, the Quakers put four in double figures. AJ Brodeur led with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Goodman had 15, while Bryce Washington and Antonio Woods each scored 11.

Oddly, the 68-65 Princeton victory over Penn was by the same score that the Quakers defeated Harvard last season to win the Ivy League tournament. Or, as they say, “What goes around comes around.”

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