Wallace's words don't hold true

Judson Wallace's ironclad guarantee fell 63 seconds short.

Princeton's senior center told The Times of Trenton (N.J.) over the weekend that he expected his team to run the table in the Ivy League, despite the fact that the Tigers lost three of their first four league games.

"I have confidence in my team," he said. "I might get in trouble fast, but our team will win our next 10 games in a row. I know that."

For almost 39 minutes against Penn, Wallace was true to his word. He dominated in the low post, scoring 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting. For most of the game, every time the Quakers made a run, Wallace was there with the answer.

But over the last seven and a half minutes, the Atlanta native unraveled, and his team came crashing down with him.

It all started when Wallace went to the foul line for a one-and-one with 7:35 left. He sunk the first, then inexplicably slapped Penn guard Eric Osmundson on the arm when the Quakers senior came out to box him out.

He received a stern warning from the outside official, and then hit the second free throw to give the Tigers a 53-35 lead.

But for Princeton coach Joe Scott, the damage had been done. His star center had lost his cool.

"I don't get caught up in that kind of stuff," Osmundson said. "We heard his comments, but we're trying to win all 14 and get these seniors into the tournament. When he slapped me at the foul line, it didn't faze me."

Indeed, Osmundson and his teammates maintained composure as they mounted a remarkable 21-3 run to end regulation and send the game into overtime.

The same cannot be said ofWallace.

Over the last seven minutes, the man who had played like a Goliath came crashing back to Earth. He spent more time arguing with the officials than he did grabbing rebounds.

With 1:37 left and Princeton up by three, Wallace had the ball at the top of the key. As he looked to make a pass to the wing, he failed to notice Penn's Tim Begley coming around his back side.

Begley picked Wallace clean, and drove for an easy layup that cut the lead to 55-54 and sent the Palestra into a frenzy.

On the ensuing possession, Wallace picked up his fifth personal foul for hooking Steve Danley.

With 1:03 left, Princeton had lost its leader. And once the game went into overtime, the Tigers simply could not recover.

Wallace, who played superb basketball for most of the night, was nearly disconsolate after the game.

"When I said that we were gonna win 10 in a row, I believed it," Wallace said. "My team believed it. We played a good first half. But a couple things didn't go our way."

Wallace deserves credit for talking to the media after an emotional loss. But when asked about his fifth foul, his frustration with the officiating showed.

"My fifth foul was ridiculous, but whatever, that guy has had it in for us all year," he said.

He refused to comment further on the official that supposedly has something against Princeton.

But by that point, the damage had been done. Princeton's best player had let the emotion of rivalry take him out of his game.

The Tigers' chances of running the table went out the window, and their chances of winning the Ancient Eight title, probably fell by the wayside as well.

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