Men's Basketball Upsets Princeton

The last time the Harvard men's basketball team beat Princeton, George Bush was President, MC Hammer was funky as all-get-out, and Tim Hill had probably never heard of the backdoor pass.

Nine years and 17 losses later, Hill and the Crimson (11-13, 5-7 Ivy) pulled off a stunning, season-making upset Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion, stoping the three-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers (18-6, 9-2) by an 87-79 overtime final. It was Harvard's first win over the Tigers since Feb. 24, 1990.

"Without a doubt, it's the best win of my career," said Hill, who set a school record for career assists, passing Tarik Campbell '94 with 571. "This is the only team in the Ivy League that the seniors haven't beaten, and we couldn't have asked for a better night."

One night after leading Penn (18-4, 10-1) for 38 minutes before succumbing 81-76, the Crimson executed to near perfection, making 51 percent from the floor and 8-of-15 from three-point range while holding Princeton to 39.7 percent shooting.

"The things that their guys do well, they did," said Princeton Coach Bill Carmody. "It was like, Clemente, open shot, bang! Beam, open shot, bang! This is a senior team, and I hate playing senior teams because they're used to these kinds of games. They handled themselves extremely well, as evidenced by the overtime."

Hill finished the weekend with 44 points, 14 assists and one turnover, while sophomore forward Dan Clemente added 38, and senior center Bill Ewing posted his third double-double in his last four starts.

Harvard 87, Princeton 79, OT

Hill led the Crimson attack with a game-high 27 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Clemente scored 16 and pulled down five rebounds, and senior shooting guard Mike Beam scored 11 points, including a pair of critical overtime three-pointers to pace Harvard.

After a frustrating 81-76 loss to the Ivy's other top gun, the Penn Quakers, Harvard showed no signs of burnout, rallying hard in the first half to stake a 35-29 lead behind nine points from Hill and seven from Clemente.

Harvard put together a 9-0 run midway throughthe half, kicked off by freshman point guard DrewGellert's coast-to-coast run and lay-up.

Gellert picked Princeton swingman GabeLewullis's pocket at the top of the arc and brokedowncourt for an 18-16 lead.

Classmate Patrick Harvey followed with athree-point play, cutting through the key andflipping a one-hander off the glass and drawingLewullis's foul.

Hill then added a pair of baseline drives,beating Princeton center Chris Young and forwardMason Rocca to make it 25-16 with 7:07 to play inthe first.

PENN  81HARVARD  76PRINCETON  79HARVARD  87

But the second half was 20 minutes of pureindigestion, as the Tigers persistently threatenedto break down a lead that got as high as 11 pointsat 40-29 with 18:27 to play.

Princeton put the Crimson in a difficultposition, hitting Ewing with his fourth personalwith 9:26 remaining when he grabbed point guardBrian Earl. Clemente had picked up his fourththree minutes earlier attempting to press.

That combination seemed to provide Carmody withan ideal moment to exploit the Crimson frontcourt,which walked on eggshells the rest of the way. Butcuriously, Princeton maintained its perimeteroffense, with center Chris Young (who finishedwith 19 points on 6-B-6UPSETCrimsonRichard A. PerezWHO'S THE MAN?Senior point guard TIMHILL (15) celebrates Harvard's first win againstPrinceton since 1990 as the scoreboard tells thestory Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion.

Harvard put together a 9-0 run midway throughthe half, kicked off by freshman point guard DrewGellert's coast-to-coast run and lay-up.

Gellert picked Princeton swingman GabeLewullis's pocket at the top of the arc and brokedowncourt for an 18-16 lead.

Classmate Patrick Harvey followed with athree-point play, cutting through the key andflipping a one-hander off the glass and drawingLewullis's foul.

Hill then added a pair of baseline drives,beating Princeton center Chris Young and forwardMason Rocca to make it 25-16 with 7:07 to play inthe first.

PENN  81HARVARD  76PRINCETON  79HARVARD  87

But the second half was 20 minutes of pureindigestion, as the Tigers persistently threatenedto break down a lead that got as high as 11 pointsat 40-29 with 18:27 to play.

Princeton put the Crimson in a difficultposition, hitting Ewing with his fourth personalwith 9:26 remaining when he grabbed point guardBrian Earl. Clemente had picked up his fourththree minutes earlier attempting to press.

That combination seemed to provide Carmody withan ideal moment to exploit the Crimson frontcourt,which walked on eggshells the rest of the way. Butcuriously, Princeton maintained its perimeteroffense, with center Chris Young (who finishedwith 19 points on 6-B-6UPSETCrimsonRichard A. PerezWHO'S THE MAN?Senior point guard TIMHILL (15) celebrates Harvard's first win againstPrinceton since 1990 as the scoreboard tells thestory Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion.

But the second half was 20 minutes of pureindigestion, as the Tigers persistently threatenedto break down a lead that got as high as 11 pointsat 40-29 with 18:27 to play.

Princeton put the Crimson in a difficultposition, hitting Ewing with his fourth personalwith 9:26 remaining when he grabbed point guardBrian Earl. Clemente had picked up his fourththree minutes earlier attempting to press.

That combination seemed to provide Carmody withan ideal moment to exploit the Crimson frontcourt,which walked on eggshells the rest of the way. Butcuriously, Princeton maintained its perimeteroffense, with center Chris Young (who finishedwith 19 points on 6-B-6UPSETCrimsonRichard A. PerezWHO'S THE MAN?Senior point guard TIMHILL (15) celebrates Harvard's first win againstPrinceton since 1990 as the scoreboard tells thestory Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion.