Princeton scored the last four points of overtime at the free throw line and somehow found a way to pull out a 62-59 win over Penn.
The Quakers had the ball up one with :38.6 to go. At the end of their possession a slipping Jack Eggleston called time out going down on a cut to try and keep the ball with his team. However, Penn was out of time outs and a technical foul was awarded.
Douglas Davis, who cracked the 1,000 point club earlier in the night, missed his first attempt but tied the game with the second.
Possession stayed with Penn and Ian Hummer stole the Quakers' inbounds pass with six on the shot clock. In the near corner inbounds man Miles Cartwright fouled Hummer and Hummer confidently made both free throws to give the Tigers a two point lead.
Zack Rosen drove into the lane and dished off to an open Fran Dougherty, who painfully threw his attempt to tie from point blank range nearly over the rim and into Dan Mavraides' hands.
Mavraides made one of two at the line and Rosen's runner from deep was wide to the left as time expired.
A spent Mavraides fell forward prone on the Jadwin Gym hardwood. It seemed borderline impossible, but Princeton had improved to 5-0 in the Ivy League.
Mavraides was one of four Tigers to score 11 points - joined by Patrick Saunders, Davis and Mack Darrow.
Tyler Bernardini hit five times from outside and tallied 19 for Penn. Bernardini's fifth triple with :03.6 left in regulation on a marvelous designed inbounds play sent the game to overtime.
For the third straight season, Mercer County Community College scrimmaged the Princeton JV at Jadwin Gym. This game remains an enjoyable opportunity to watch two teams that run similar offenses face off and is also a chance to observe several Tigers in action that have seen limited playing time this season.
The game tipped in front of single digits on Friday afternoon four hours before the varsity and Harvard would do battle.
The answers were the same because the focus remained the same.
Defense.
Following the Tigers' 68-53 win over Dartmouth, Johnson felt the difference between the start of the first half - where the Big Green opened on a 12-3 run, and the start of the second half - where the Tigers began an extended 32-10 crush, was his team's execution without the basketball.
"We're not giving you guys new stuff to write about and talk about, but that's where our bread is buttered," Johnson said after his initial compunction. "Defensively we were better. It allowed us to get stops, then convert a fair amount and control the game a little bit more. The first half we didn't stop them enough to do that."
Shooting 60.9% from the field and scoring the last seven points before the break, Dartmouth knotted Princeton at 34 heading off the floor.
Princeton outscored Dartmouth 9-2 to open the second half. The Big Green went nearly eight minutes without a basket after already falling behind by eight. When Randy Melville’s son Tyler scored inside to end this drought there was only 3:12 showing and the result was well in hand.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Dan Mavraides, Kareem Maddox & Ian Hummer:
"Since I've been here, all I've ever wanted for these guys is to have the type of experience that I had [as a player] and we're getting close." - Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson
Playing in front of a high volume (both definitions) undergraduate throng decked out in orange and black, Princeton took a significant step closer to how things were when Johnson roamed the hardwood instead of the sidelines, defeating Harvard 65-61 in a meeting between two of the Ivy League’s three unbeatens.
Ian Hummer’s two free throws with :04.8 left in the second half gave the Tigers a two possession lead and snuffed the final embers of a Crimson rally.
A frustrated Hummer was forced to sit the last 14:03 of the opening stanza, picking up his second personal foul after connecting with Christian Webster attempting a three pointer on the perimeter. Three free throws sent the Tigers in their first double digit hole since behind 24-13 in November against Bucknell.
Princeton battled from down 11. When Laurent Rivard foolishly fouled Douglas Davis on a running three point try in transition with less than a second before halftime, Davis canned all three tries and the Tigers were within one.
It was the first leg of a 19-2 Princeton push that saw the home team score the initial nine of the second half to take their first lead and open up as large as an 11 point advantage.
Hummer scored 15 of his 17 in the second half, one of three Tigers in double digits. Kareem Maddox was also strong inside, scoring 14 and blocking a career best five shots. Dan Mavraides struggled with his shot, 1-9 inside the arc but 7-8 at the free throw line for 15. Mavraides’ six assists set a career high.
Keith Wright’s 16 points and 11 rebounds paced the Crimson.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Douglas Davis & Ian Hummer:
Princeton did not record a field goal in the final 6:39 of Saturday night's game against Yale, but made two defensive stops in the final 30 seconds to hold off the Bulldogs 67-63.
Austin Morgan, guarded closely by Dan Mavraides with Yale behind one, lost the ball off his foot - kicked forward 10 feet and over the baseline.
Following two ice-in-vein free throws by Mack Darrow, Kareem Maddox swatted a runner in the lane by Porter Braswell into the hands of Mavraides.
Mavraides was fouled with :08.6 showing and his team up three. The senior guard, who struggled through an eight turnover evening, missed his first try and then converted his second after Yale used their final time out.
Princeton sent four defenders back with Mavraides waiting patiently at the line.
Morgan's jumper from behind the arc right before time expired was rebounded by Ian Hummer and Princeton had done just enough to get to 2-0 after their first league weekend.
"We need a little more awareness as to how you get from the 10 minute mark with an 11 point lead to the one minute mark with an 11 point lead," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson.
Hummer finished with 12 points - all in the first half. His final rebound was his 11th, giving him three double-doubles on the season.
Douglas Davis led the way with 18 on 7-11 shooting. Maddox tallied 17, all but four coming after intermission.
Reggie Willhite's 13 topped four Elis in double figures.
Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Austin Freeman, Chris Wright & Julian Vaughn:
Trailing 61-53 and time running low, it took 51 seconds for Villanova to cut an eight point Georgetown lead down to one.
Running, jumping, trapping, tripling and tackling - the Wildcats swarmed the entirety of the floor for 94 feet as they attempted to salvage victory in a game they were almost out of with 2:59 left.
A pair of unforgivable long passes by the Hoyas' Jason Clark and Chris Wright into Antonio Pena's hands led swiftly to a Corey Stokes three point jumper from the left arc and two Maalik Wayns free throws as the Hoyas struggled to break the Wildcats' full court pressure.
Through it all, senior Austin Freeman remained unflappable.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Kareem Maddox & Dan Mavraides:
Trailing 21-13 after 10 unfocused minutes in the first game of their final Ivy League campaign, Princeton's seniors did what you hope your veterans will do.
A driven, determined Kareem Maddox took over Jadwin Gym on Friday night - scoring 11 points, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing three assists and grabbing three steals in 15 minutes of first half action as the Tigers exploded on a 24-2 run fueled by their defense.
Fellow senior Dan Mavraides was one of four Princeton players in double figures, hitting three times from deep for 13. Ian Hummer equaled Mavraides and Douglas Davis did one better. Maddox finished with 15 points and a career high 14 boards.
No one on the Tigers played more than 26 minutes as the orange and black opened the second half on an 8-0 run and never lead by less than 14 before expanded recycling time to close the effort.
"They looked like they'd been there. It is hard to fake that," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson about Maddox and Mavraides. "They've been in those moments."
On January 15th Mercer County Community College (9-13) lost 70-67 at Manor, the Blue Jays' first and only win this season.
10 days later the Vikings weren't going to let what transpired in Jenkintown happen again on their home floor.
Holding a four point lead five minutes into the first half, Mercer set out on a methodical, well-executed zone offense clinic as Manor (1-14) switched away from man.
It was the opposite of what transpired in the teams' first meeting, where MCCC's execution versus man-to-man forced Manor into a zone and the Vikings moved the ball well but did not make any of their open shots.
Seeing 2-3 defense, Mercer teased the Blue Jays with swift, precise perimeter passes but did not solely settle for outside jumpers, working the ball to a player overloading the defense at the free throw line or slipping inside on the baseline to mix the palette up with a layup.
A four point lead quickly became 21-12 and then rapidly 30-17 on an open three by Rodney Walters, one of six triples for Mercer in the first half.
"It is nice that we came back and played well," said head coach Howie Levy. "The ball really moved and our defense was good. It is what we're trying to get to. This is one of the few games where we have a little margin for error."
It took Princeton 20 minutes to deoxidize their rust offensively and defensively following 17 days away from the basketball court, but a dominant second half on both sides of the floor carried the Tigers to a 73-40 victory versus The College of New Jersey.
"We were clearly out of sync. That's natural. There's no shame in that," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson after the Tigers' 12th win of the season.
"We were not sharp to begin the game, that was clear. [TCNJ] came out ready to play and that's good," Johnson continued. "We were a little bit slow to get going and then we got back to what we normally do, which is try to defend as much as possible."
The Lions, playing their second game in two days, has no answer for senior forward Kareem Maddox inside. Maddox scored 21 points on 9-10 shooting in 22 minutes and put back his only miss of the day.
Leading 34-25 at the break, the Tigers opened the second half on a 29-8 extended run and never looked back.
Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Julian Vaughn, Austin Freeman & Chris Wright:
Georgetown was unable to stop Seton Hall on 11 consecutive defensive possessions, yet the Hoyas put the ball in the basket often enough themselves to stay within striking distance of the Pirates throughout the second half of Tuesday's second half in Newark.
Seton Hall either scored or went to the free throw line every time they had the ball from the 8:53 mark until the final two minutes.
"At our next practice, I don't know if we're going to do anything else than play one-on-one," said Georgetown head coach John Thompson III. "We did a very poor job at the defensive end."
Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Chris Wright & Austin Freeman:
A three pointer by Rutgers' James Beatty over Austin Freeman in the left corner with 9:59 left in the second half cut what had been a 16 point Georgetown lead five minutes previous down to 47-43.
Losers of four out of their first five in conference play with their leading scorer Austin Freeman mired in a 10-31 shooting slump, the time was right for the Hoyas to crack on the road.
For John Thompson III, 7,122 red-clad Scarlet Knight supporters rising to a din wasn't different from situations he had seen before.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Douglas Davis & Dan Mavraides:
Princeton heads into their annual 17 day exam break with a program record-tying 11th DI non-conference win after a methodical 68-57 victory over Marist.
Five Tigers hit double figures as Princeton built a 20 point first half lead.
Their advantage cut to five midway through the second half, the Tigers responded with eight straight and the buffer never returned to single digits.
Princeton converted seven of eight free throws in the last 2:21 before an unencumbered Brendan Connolly's two-handed slam with under a minute to play pushed this edge back to where it sat at halftime, 17 .
Back-to-back three point shots for the Red Foxes - after missing their first 14 attempts - made the final count a touch deceptive.
"I don't think it was pretty, but I've been around a little bit and I think I see these guys were working hard," said Tiger head coach Sydney Johnson. "I think we hit a stretch there in the second half where we weren't making shots. One or two of them I wasn't happy with, four or five of them I was. It just didn't go down."
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
