Upset over Tigers a night to remember for Yale

By Brannan Schell

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Onaje Woodbine, BK '02, had his hands full trying to drive on Penn's Michael Jordan '00.

Word spread rapidly after Yale pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Ivy League history by beating Princeton in double overtime on Fri., Feb 13. The directors of SportsCenter on ESPN immediately sent a courier to seize Yale's game tape. An hour and a half later, Bulldog highlights appeared on national television. How exactly did this upset happen against a Tiger squad that had won 35 consecutive Ivy League contests?

According to head coach Dick Kuchen, the answer is simple. "We shot well, we rebounded well, and we defended well," he said. He also cited recent close losses to Denver, Dartmouth, and Cornell as convincing evidence that Yale was poised to break out with a big victory.

Kuchen maintained he had not changed his game plan in preparation for the Princeton game. He said he thought it was the Bulldogs' heightened play that carried them to victory. "When you're in an adverse situation it says a lot about a team's character," he said. "They really had to hang tough and that's what I am most proud of."

Although Yale was able to pull out the victory in the end, the Elis were not sure of victory until the final buzzer sounded. When Yale found itself down by 10 points at halftime, forward David Tompkins, SY '99, thought the team's chances looked dim. "We knew they are a very difficult team to come back against because they play a really slow tempo and handle the ball well," he said.

The Bulldogs' foul shooting got them into trouble in more than one instance. Tompkins missed two free throws late in the second overtime. Usually one of the most spirited competitors on the court, he was visibly dejected after having missed the foul shots. Tompkins said one thought ran through his head: "We have to win this game." The win was a huge relief. "Thank goodness we were able to pull it out," he said with a smile.

One element that helped the Elis pull the game out was the amount of time captain Charlie Petit, DC '99, spent on the court. Petit, who already missed 18 games this season with a broken foot, was expected to see only limited minutes, but instead ended up playing in 31 of the game's 50 minutes. In Petit's mind there was no decision whether or not to keep playing. "The situation we were in--it was a once in a lifetime chance," he said. "There is so much adrenaline that you really do not think about your foot hurting you. That game makes up for the 18 games I missed."

Petit was a significant force on the court, sinking two crucial three-pointers--one near the end of regulation and another as the second overtime was winding down. Kuchen pointed out that few realized it was Petit who guarded Gabe Lewullis '99 when he missed Princeton's final shot in the last moments of the game.

After all the elated Yale fans left the John J. Lee Amphitheater, the congratulations were issued, and the relatives were hugged, the players realized they had to face another tough opponent in less than 24 hours. They had to put the celebration of the Princeton win behind them and focus on Penn. The Quakers' chances for an Ivy League title suddenly had new life. Thanks to Yale's heroics the previous night, there wasn't any doubt that Penn would show up ready to play.

By the start of Saturday's second half, the Elis had fallen behind by 11 points, and they never challenged during the rest of the game."We knew we had to play with the same emotion and intensity, [but] we came out flat," Tompkins said. "The good teams in the league can play through and come out and play well both nights and unfortunately we couldn't do that."

Although they lost to Penn, the memories of the victory against Princeton may be just what the Bulldogs need to get the sweep over mediocre Columbia and Cornell this weekend. Earlier this season, the Elis lost to the Big Red 69-78 in overtime but defeated the Lions 60-48. Neither opponent is exactly a powerhouse: Columbia (3-7 Ivy) and Cornell (4-6 Ivy) sit ahead of only Yale and Brown in the standings. This weekend is a rare opportunity for Yale to notch consecutive Ivy victories.

While the Bulldogs are looking forward to their upcoming games, last weekend's upset of Princeton is embedded in the players' minds. The victory was especially meaningful to the seniors on the squad. Tompkins remarked, "I know that when the season is over, I won't remember anything about the Penn game and I will remember every detail of the Princeton game."

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