PRINCETON. N.J.--The deafening rear of the 3931 at Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium suddenly diminished to a confused murmur. It all seemed a bit unreal.
Because no one really expected Harvard to pull it off.
But when junior Joe Carrabino connected on his two free throws with only eight seconds remaining Saturday night, putting his team up by five, the fantastic and impossible had become visible and true.
On the heels of one of its most demoralizing defeats in recent years--a 77-74 double overtime loss to Penn Friday night--the Harvard men's basketball team rebounded magnificently to shock the Ivy community with a heart-stopping 55-50 triumph over the first place Tigers at Princeton.
The Crimson triumph was its first at Jadwin Gym in over a quarter of a century, and it broke a seven game Princeton winning streak.
More importantly, the victory thrusted Harvard right back into the thick of the Ivy League title race. Now 12-10 overall, 6-4 in the Ivies. Harvard finds itself--thanks to Brown and Penn losses on Saturday--positioned in a three-way tie for second-place, just one game behind the still league-leading Tigers. "We needed this one. It was a must victory," the Crimson's Arne Duncan said.
It was also a mighty close victory. For the final six minutes. Harvard's lead never widened to more than three points. The long history of Crimson failure at Jadwin, coupled with the wild enthusiasm of the Princeton crowd made the small advantage seem ever so vulnerable and precarious.
But Harvard managed to elude that ominous and foreboding aura of defeat, and, when the final buzzer sounded, it proceeded to indulge in its most riotous victory celebration in years.
"This is the greatest victory that I've ever been associated with." Duncan said in the madhouse that was the Harvard locker room.
Comeback
Trailing 24-22 at the end of the game's first 20 minutes, the Crimson capitalized on a six minute Tiger scoring drought at the beginning of the second half and on an eight-point rally of its own, keyed by freshman Keith Webster's 20-ft. left side jumper.
Midway through the second half, though, Princeton began to carve away at the cager's six point lead--thanks largely to the inside and outside efforts of Tiger Kevin Mullin, who glistened with a game high 22--until, finally, with 6:39 to go, the home team found itself up by two, 38-36.
* But instead of faltering, as it had the night before, when it lost a nine point lead at Penn, the Crimson immediately reasserted itself when Carrabino slipped in a lay up on which he was fouled at 6:21. Converting the ensuing free throw, Carrabino put Harvard ahead, 39-38.
And from that point, Bob Ferry's two 10 and 12-ft. jumpers and Harvard's 10 for 10 free throw shooting down the stretch--Carrabino poured in six of them--nullified each Princeton field goal. Never again would the cagers relinquish their slim advantage.
On the evening, Harvard--already the nation's most skilled team from the line--garnered a 100 percent (19 for 19) free throw average.
What won the game for the Crimson, however, was its exemplary defense.
"It was just so hard to move out there tonight," Princeton Coach Pete Caril said. "Everywhere you went there was someone... Their zone was in there packed tight. It was bad. We just couldn't get them out of there."
Carrabino--who also paced the Crimson offense with his 19 points--turned in an absolutely stellar defensive performance, in particular, completely outclassing Princeton center Howard Levy. With the Tigers' inside game nowhere in sight and Levy shooting O-for-eight from the floor. Princeton moved its game outside.
"Princeton had to rely on the perimeter," Duncan said. "And if you live by the outside shot then you're going to die by the outside shot when they don't fall."
Ferry's return to his usual standout form, also aided the Crimson victory. Visibly plagued Friday night by an injured left foot which forced him to miss practice for the entire week. Ferry used some additional warm up shots prior to the Princeton contest to regain his soft touch.
"Ferry had a poor game last night." Caril said. "But tonight he was better than good."
While the monumental win allows the Crimson to continue its quest for the Ivy League title, it also had other profound ramifications. The Crimson now enters the final leg of the season--four games remain, all of them Ivy contests--with a sense of unbounded confidence and team camaraderie.
"We've never been this high before," Kyle Standley said.
Whether or not the Crimson captures that elusive Ivy title, though, there will always remain the memories of this exceptional weekend, of how the true character of this team shone gallantly in moments of both devastating defeat and exhilarating success.
"I just assumed that we would come in here as low as possible, because you just don't come back that easily from such an emotional game," Harvard coach Frank McLaughlin said. "But we did, and I can't imagine another team doing what we did...It's going to be a nice plane ride home."
At Jadwin Gymnasium
Princeton (50)--John Mullin 9-4--22; John Smyth 6-0--12; Howard Levy 0-0--0; lsaac Carter 4-0-8; Bill Ryan 4-0--8; Joe Scott 0-0--0. Totals 23-4--50. Fouled out; Smyth.
Harvard (56)--Bob Ferry 6-4-16; Ame Duncan 2-2-6; Joe Carrabino 5-9--19; Pat Smith 0-0--0; Keith Webeter 3-2-8; Ken Plutnicki 1-0--2; Greg Wildes 0-2-2; Kyle Standley 1-0--2. Totals 18-19--55.
Halftime: P. 24-22 Remaining Ivy Games PRINCETON (4): Feb 24 at Cornell. Feb 25 at Columbia; March 2 vs. Yale; March 3 vs Brown. HARVARD (4): Feb. 24 at Yale; Feb. 25 at Brown; March 2 vs. Cornell; March 3 vs. Columbia. BROWN (4): Feb 24 vs. Dartmouth, Feb. 25 vs. Harvard; March 2 at Penn; March 3 at Princeton. CORNELL (4): Feb. 24 vs. Princeton, Feb 25 vs. Penn; March 2 at Harvard; March 3 at Dartmouth PENN (4): Feb. 24 at Columbia: Feb 25 at Cornell; March 2 vs. Brown; March 3 vs. Yale. DARTMOUTH (4): Feb. 24 at Brown. Feb 25 at Yale; March 2 vs. Columbia; March 3 vs. Cornell. YALE (4): Feb. 24 vs. Harvard; Feb 25 vs. Dartmouth; March 2 at Princeton; March 3 at Penn COLUMBIA (4): Feb 24 vs. Penn, Feb. 25 vs. Princeton; March 2 at Harvard; March 3 at Dartmouth.
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