Thompson didn’t want to do anything to spoil the good luck he’s had at Lavietes in his two-year career. Though the Tigers never trailed in the final 10 minutes of Friday’s game, the second-year coach still felt every bit as relieved as he did after Wente’s prayer was answered at the buzzer last year.
“Without a doubt, [Harvard] is always tough for the league on the road,” Thompson said. “And especially in this building; we’ve had some very tough games here.”
Despite forcing the Tiger ball-control offense to commit an uncharacteristically-high 12 turnovers in the first half, the Crimson trailed 24-19 at the break, due largely to a poor 27-percent shooting effort.
In the second half, though, Harvard’s shooters picked up the slack and reeled off a 16-3 run to take a 35-28 lead with 12:58 left in the game. Harvey accounted for 10 of those points and finished with a game-high 15.
Facing its largest deficit of the young Ivy season, the Tigers were not fazed. Instead, Princeton rattled off a 14-2 run to retake the lead at 45-39 with six minutes left to play.
But just as soon as the momentum had swung to Princeton, the Crimson stole it back on the next two possessions. A lay-up by Gellert followed by a monstrous, breakaway dunk by junior guard Brady Merchant pulled Harvard within 45-43.
Despite the huge momentum play, Princeton again remained composed. Sophomore guard Ed Persia converted a lay-up and senior forward Mike Bechtold drained a three-pointer to push the Princeton advantage to 50-45 with two minutes left.
“You can try [to capitalize on big momentum plays], but those guys are pretty calm over there,” Gellert said. “They don’t get rattled too often.”
Harvard appeared to be out of the game, but Merchant hit a three-pointer from the right wing to rekindle the Crimson faithful. A Wente turnover gave Harvard the ball back with 19 seconds and a chance to exact revenge for last year’s improbable loss.
Revenge, though, will have to wait another year because the Princeton defense stifled Harvard’s drawn-up play. Winter, who was the team’s fourth option, ended up taking a shot in the lane, but his attempt fell short and the game ended in Princeton’s favor.
The win moves the Tigers a step closer to potentially repeating as league champions. But on Friday, Coach Thompson was simply relieved to be sitting pretty after his first Ivy contest of the year.
“After one game, we’re 1-0. That’s were we wanted to be and we’re glad to be there,” Thompson said.