Howie Levy jokingly called it "getting the monkey off his back," but for the first time in five meetings over the past five years the Mercer County Community College finally defeated Princeton' J.V.
Leading 33-32 in the second half, the Vikings (6-3) went on a 12-0 run sparked by the play of sophomore center Filip Sekulic, who recently accepted a full scholarship at Chestnut Hill College.
Sekulic had eight straight during this stretch, including a soft baseline jumper, a two-handed slam and a wild finish after bumping off of Princeton's Bobby Garbade in mid-air.
While some late three point shooting from the Tigers' Ameer Elbuluk helped his team close the deficit in the final minutes, MCCC held on at the free throw line.
Princeton's best chance came on a contested three from Mike Washington, Jr. at the top of the arc with the score favoring Mercer 49-46 with less than 2:45 remaining.
Postgame audio from Howie Levy, a scoring breakdown for the Tigers, some additional notes and even a video montage can all be found after the jump.
Howie Levy wrote a great piece about returning to the Palestra as the head coach of Mercer County Community College.
The NCAA's list of the top 75 players in NCAA Tournament history includes Bill Bradley.
In his second year at Fairfield, Sydney Johnson is putting his stamp on the Stags.
Georgetown (8-1) had no issues with Longwood. The Hoyas distributed 25 assists and won easily, 89-53.
The signing of Dan Mavraides by Juve Caserta is now official. Mavraides took the floor with his new team and scored 12 off the bench in a loss to Enel Brindisi.
In what sounds like a very exciting game, Mercer County Community College (4-2) got past Morris 57-56. Mustafa el Amin tied the score on a three pointer with four seconds left and Barry Brockington, who was 11-14 from the line, won it for the Vikings with a free throw that came with :0.6 remaining.
Richmond (7-2) served ODU their worst-ever defeat at the Constant Center, 80-53.
Then there's Northwestern (7-2), who recorded a much-needed and very impressive 74-70 win at Baylor. It was 56-38 Wildcats with 10:25 remaining but intense pressure by the Bears and a stretch where Bill Carmody's team went 1-8 at the line closed that deficit to two. After all that - and I haven't even mentioned the twelve second sequence wherein NU committed three turnovers - Drew Crawford sealed the result with a pair of free throws as just over a second remained.
Two scores of note out of last night - Bucknell 76 Kent State 60 and Tennessee State 76 Drexel 66.
It is behind a paywall but there's an interview with Tiger recruit Steven Cook here. Cook scored 16 in New Trier's loss to Warren.
How about a second Mid-Majority write-up of Princeton's win at Lafayette?
Just 10-20 at the free throw line, Northwestern (6-2) was surprised 50-44 by UIC as the Flames scored the game's final six points.
Richmond (6-2) won their third straight over Wake Forest.
Eight games away from home to start the season concluded for Fairfield (4-4) with a 74-55 victory at Austin Peay.
Mercer (3-2) was topped by Del Tech Stanton, 53-46.
Sunday's only game of note sees Denver visiting Stanford.
Around the Ivy League: Brown (3-4) fell 63-50 at New Hampshire. It was Harvard (3-3) by nine over Fordham. Dartmouth (2-3) rallied past Longwood, 61-53. Penn State knocked off Penn (2-6) by a 58-47 final. Cornell (4-5) bested Colgate in 70-63 Ithaca. Mike Muscala had 29 points and 19 rebounds as Bucknell got past Columbia (4-4) in the final five minutes.
Today's Game:Princeton (2-3 / 0-0) vs. Wagner (1-3 / 0-0) Location: Spiro Sports Center - Staten Island, NY Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Princeton leads 3-1. Last meeting:Wagner 73 Princeton 57 - 11/12/11.
Princeton
Wagner
0-2
Home Record
0-0
2-1
Away Record
1-3
0-0
Neutral Record
0-0
161
RPI
168
104
Sagarin
187
94
Pomeroy
140
60.0
Points / Game
56.8
60.8
Points Allowed / Game
65.8
.433
FG%
.371
.726
FT%
.675
.350
3PT FG%
.283
29.0
Rebounds / Game
37.8
9.6
Off. Rebounds / Game
11.0
-2.2
Rebounding Margin
-0.3
15.2
Assists / Game
9.0
14.4
Turnovers / Game
20.0
2.8
Blocks / Game
5.8
Hummer: 17.0
Points
Williams: 17.5
Hummer, Bray: 5.2
Rebounds
Williams: 7.5
Hummer: 5.6
Assists
Ortiz: 3.5
Hummer: 2.2
Steals
Ortiz: 2.5
Hummer: 1.1
Blocks
Folahan: 2.8
Hummer: .567
FG% (Min: 10 FGA)
Williams: .591
Koon: .900
FT% (Min: 10 FTA)
Williams: .842
Barrett: .526
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3PTA)
Burton: .400
William & Mary vs. Richmond - 7:00 pm ET
Columbia vs. LIU - 7:00 pm ET
Stony Brook vs. Cornell - 7:00 pm ET
Binghamton vs. Penn - 7:00 pm ET
There's an open thread for the Wagner game in the forum if you want to discuss this contest before/during/after. Fire up the forums!
Kudos to the Full-Court Press, who continues to regularly turn out the only other game previews this season.
Growing pains have hurt Wagner through four games.
The story of how UConn stole victory from Bill Bradley and Princeton in the 1964 NCAA Tournament.
Sean Gregory discusses the idea of allowing college athletes to major in sports.
How do you lose a basketball game by 20 while committing only four turnovers? Ask Northwestern (6-1) who lost 77-57 to Maryland in part because they were outrebounded 47-19.
Despite 29 from Derek Needham, Fairfield (3-4) dropped an 85-78 decision on the road at DePaul.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (2-3) lost 85-78 at home to Vermont. Dartmouth (1-3) connected on 11 three pointers but it wasn't enough versus Bucknell.
Today's Game:Princeton (1-2 / 0-0) vs. Syracuse (2-0 / 0-0) Location: Carrier Dome - Syracuse, NY Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: Time Warner (SNY rebroadcast on 11/22 at 2:00 pm ET) Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Syracuse leads 24-9. Last meeting:Syracuse 56 Princeton 45 - 11/12/04.
Princeton
Syracuse
0-2
Home Record
1-0
1-0
Away Record
0-0
0-0
Neutral Record
1-0
261
RPI
51
93
Sagarin
6
122
Pomeroy
2
58.3
Points / Game
75.0
59.3
Points Allowed / Game
53.0
.382
FG%
.475
.709
FT%
.652
.292
3PT FG%
.261
27.7
Rebounds / Game
47.0
11.0
Off. Rebounds / Game
12.5
-6.3
Rebounding Margin
+7.0
15.3
Assists / Game
14.5
10.3
Turnovers / Game
18.0
3.7
Blocks / Game
10.0
Hummer: 15.7
Points
Triche: 18.0
Barrett: 5.7
Rebounds
Fair: 7.0
Hummer: 6.0
Assists
Carter-Williams: 7.5
Bray: 2.0
Steals
Carter-Williams: 4.0
Hummer: 1.7
Blocks
Carter-Williams: 3.0
Hummer: .514
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Triche: .560
Barrett: .857
FT% (Min: 10 FTA)
Triche: .636
Barrett: .533
3PT FG% (Min: 5 3PTA)
Cooney: .400
Colorado State vs. Denver - 9:00 pm ET - Root Sports
Bryant vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
Yale vs. Vermont - 7:00 pm ET
There's an open thread for the Syracuse game in the forum if you want to discuss this contest before/during/after.
Junior guard T.J. Bray is trying to shoot himself out of a slump.
Around the Ivy League: Columbia (3-1) raised eyebrows as they disposed of Villanova with relative ease, 73-57. The Lions converted 18 straight free throws over the final 2:39. Trailing by as many as 40 in the second half, Harvard (2-2) lost 75-56 at St. Joe's. Penn (1-5) dropped their fifth straight, 73-66 at Lehigh. Guilty of 23 turnovers, Cornell (1-4) lost 64-53 at Arizona State.
Alexander Wolff's sweeping piece on changes in college basketball the past 30 years uses the 1997-98 Princeton Tigers as one of his touchstones.
Richmond (3-0) stayed unbeaten with a 68-58 victory over Hampton.
While they were able to erase a 15 point second half deficit late in regulation, Oregon State (2-1) fell to Alabama on a three point shot by Rodney Cooper with 13 seconds remaining. The jumper kept a shaky possession by the Crimson Tide from completely unraveling. Craig Robinson blamed himself for his team's slow start.
The Beavers play Purdue at MSG in this evening's 2K Sports Classic consolation pairing.
With the game tied at 58, Northwestern (2-0) went on a 17-3 run to dispose of Mississippi Valley State.
Mercer (2-1) bested Montgomery (Pa.) behind 22 points and seven rebounds from Mustafa El Amin.
A piece on the sounds of Princeton includes rare audio from the school's first postseason appearance.
Fairfield (2-1) defeated Penn (1-2) by nine despite 31 points from the Quakers' Fran Dougherty.
The Northwestern (1-0) season began with a 79-49 victory over Texas Southern. Drew Crawford had 20 for the Wildcats.
Richmond (2-0) cracked the century mark versus UNCW.
Frederick (Md.) topped MCCC, 57-51.
Tonight you can see Georgetown host Liberty and Denver open at home against Texas A&M-CC.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (1-1) fell in the final seconds at UMass. New Hampshire dropped Dartmouth (1-1), 72-58 and Columbia (2-0) throttled Haverford, 74-40.
Duquesne vs. Georgetown - 6:30 pm ET - Legends Classic Regional Round - ESPNU
New Mexico St. vs. Oregon State - 9:30 pm ET - 2K Sports Classic Regional Round - ESPNU
A Keith Mathews free throw late in overtime gave Fairfield (1-0) a one point decision over Central Connecticut.
Mercer (1-0) started their season on the right note with an 81-72 triumph versus Rockland (NY). Mustafa El Amin scored 31 points and added seven rebounds for good measure.
Take two! Georgetown heads indoors to face Duquesne at home in a game that hopefully won't be called off at halftime.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (1-0) blocked 13 shots and clamped down Western Michigan, 63-55. The only member of the Ancient Eight to lose so far this season is Yale (0-1), who did so in spectacular fashion. The Bulldogs led Sacred Heart 61-37 with under 14 minutes to go but the Pioneers would somehow force overtime and subsequently earn an 85-82 decision. Brian Barbour scored 19 as Columbia (1-0) drubbed Liberty, 68-47. Behind a career high 25 for Gabas Maldunas, Dartmouth (1-0) opened their year with a 67-54 decision over Maine.
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05
