Crunch.

February 14, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Filed under Basketball, Princeton

Christian "Crunch" Regulski passed away on Thursday. His struggle with brain cancer is over.

Too often when someone dies from a disease - especially cancer - it is written that they "lost their battle." That wasn't the case with Christian. When an individual can bond people together and make them laugh like he did, the only losses are for those who knew them and those who never got that chance.

The 11 year old Crunch was a regular on the Princeton sidelines over the last year, and the Tigers were undefeated with him on the bench, including the previous weekend's games versus Harvard and Dartmouth.

Watching the way the team and the coaching staff interacted with Christian at Jadwin before, during and after games was heartwarming, heartbreaking and genuinely funny.

After his team's overtime victory against Siena in late November, Kareem Maddox carried Crunch off the floor like a human trophy.

Thinking of the gregarious Regulski chiming in from his perch at Princeton's annual postseason banquet with bona fide disappointment when one of the staff cleaned up their language in the presence of a minor brings a smile to my face - as does this picture of the energetic Crunch with the stoic Lawrence Schuler at Jadwin.

You wouldn't know it by merely looking at it, but the image was captured during an exceptionally tense moment late in the 2010-11 season opener. Mack Darrow - who had never attempted a free throw in college - is about to go to the line with Princeton up two on Rutgers at the end of overtime.

Schuler is anxious.

Crunch is Crunch.

Regulski was first "adopted" by the Tigers in March of last year through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, an organization that matches a child who has a pediatric brain tumor with a nearby sports program. He lined up with the team for the national anthem before Princeton defeated Harvard and the Tigers won every one of the many games they played with Crunch by their side.

The players' interactions with Crunch weren't just limited to basketball. Video games were played (with Crunch winning most of them, I'm told). Texts were exchanged. Birthday BBQs were attended.

As head coach Sydney Johnson said to me back in March: “Our team’s connection with Friends of Jaclyn stemmed from our players wanting to connect with people in our community beyond the basketball court...we couldn’t have guessed that Christian and his family would touch us so much. He’s a really good kid, a funny kid and he’s got a ton of courage.”

A visitation for family and friends will be from 6:00 pm ET to 9:00 pm ET on Tuesday at the Saul Colonial Home - 3795 Nottingham Way in Hamilton Square, NJ.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to:

The Robbinsville Lacrosse Association (please mention Crunch)
P.O. Box 491, Windsor, NJ 08691

The Ronald McDonald Camp
3925 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

An obituary can be found in the Trenton Times.

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Monday News:

February 14, 2011 at 9:35 am
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Northwestern, Pete Hegseth, Princeton, Today's News

The Daily Princetonian reviews the Tigers' weekend.

SportsProf wonders if this could be Princeton's year.

Austin Freeman returned from an ankle injury and Georgetown (20-5) used a 25-10 second half run to defeat Marquette, 69-60.

A miserable Northwestern (14-10) effort resulted in a 65-41 loss at Penn State, leaving John Templon of Chicago College Basketball extremely frustrated.

Former Princeton guard Pete Hegseth was a guest on CNN's Parker|Spitzer.

For the first time, princetonbasketball.com exceeded 200 site members over the weekend. Thanks to those of you who have subscribed this season. Your support keeps us on the road! If you want to join our family and receive consistent, knowledgeable, comprehensive coverage of Princeton Tigers men's basketball & the Carril Cradle of coaches, you can sign up here. Current students (regardless of school) are always eligible for a 50% discount on membership. Just ask!

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Princeton/Cornell highlights.

February 14, 2011 at 8:53 am
Filed under Basketball, Princeton, Video

Slope TV with a great package from Saturday night.

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Sunday News:

February 13, 2011 at 9:34 am
Filed under Basketball, Chris Young, Denver, Georgetown, MCCC, Northwestern, Oregon State, Princeton, Recruiting, Richmond, Today's News

Marquette vs. Georgetown - 1:00 pm ET - ESPN
Northwestern vs. Penn State - 3:30 pm ET - Big Ten Network

In addition to our recap, read about the Tigers' thriller versus Cornell on goprincetontigers.com, in the Ithaca Journal, courtesy of the Associated Press and on cornellbigred.com.

The Columbia Spectator reports on Friday night's Princeton victory.

Richmond (20-6) reached 20 wins for the third straight season after a 64-52 win over St. Louis.

Mercer (14-14) won their fifth consecutive game, 74-69 over Del Tech Stanton. Anthony Obery led the Vikings with 22.

Troy tripped Denver (12-13) by a 64-55 count.

Oregon State (9-15) lost at UCLA by eight.

Julian Vaughn and Georgetown host Marquette.

Penn State welcomes Northwestern to State College.

Princeton recruit Clay Wilson had 36 as Lincoln Christian defeated Summit Christian Academy by 10.

The Trenton Times talked to Chris Young about signing with the Mets.

If you have Comcast On Demand, check under Sports:The Comcast Network to watch a rebroadcast of Tuesday's Penn/Princeton game.

Around the Ivy League: Harvard (18-4 / 7-1) came from 24 down and rallied past Brown (9-13 / 2-6) for an 85-78 win to stay a half game behind Princeton. Columbia (13-9 / 4-4) outscored Penn (9-12 / 3-4) by 40-27 in the second half of a 75-62 Lion victory. Greg Mangano had a career high 30 in a 69-60 Yale (12-10 / 5-3) decision at Dartmouth (5-17 / 1-7).

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Cornell pictures.

February 12, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton, Robert Solomon

Photos from today's game courtesy Robert Solomon.

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Princeton 57 Cornell 55.

February 12, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Filed under 10-11, Audio, Basketball, Princeton

Box Score : HD Box Score

Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson & Kareem Maddox:

Stop for a second and don't look at tonight. The moment isn't there. Don't think about Kareem Maddox's meritable stat line and his game-winning jumper with 10 seconds left off a breaking design. That's not the moment. Don't consider Princeton's two point win over Cornell at all.

Look at January 30th, 2010 in New Haven. There you'll find the moment.

The moment comes late in the first half, with Princeton up one over Yale. Marcus Schroeder finds Kareem Maddox inside and the junior forward goes up with a high right-handed jump hook.

That's the moment where Kareem Maddox knew - knew he wasn't a jump shooter, knew he was wasting his time on the perimeter, knew the coaches had been right all along.

Without that moment Kareem Maddox doesn't go for 23 points, six rebounds, three assists, four blocks and a steal as a senior this evening. Without that moment Princeton doesn't improve to 19-4 and 7-0 in the Ivy League.

Maddox could have selected any moment when asked about a point where the switch flipped and he turned the proverbial corner from athlete to basketball player. This is the moment he chose.

"The coaches had been telling me that I could be a post player for the past few years and I guess that never clicked," Maddox recalled. "I made that hook and as silly as it sounds I think that changed me into a more of a post player than a shooter."

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Saturday News:

February 12, 2011 at 9:01 am
Filed under Basketball, Bill Bradley, Craig Robinson, Denver, MCCC, Oregon State, Pete Carril, Princeton, Richmond, Steve Goodrich, Today's News

Today's Game: Princeton (18-4 / 6-0) vs. Cornell (6-15 / 2-5)
Location: Newman Arena - Ithaca, NY
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: N/A
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: Princeton leads 134-78.
Last meeting: Cornell 50 Princeton 47 - 2/26/10.

St. Louis vs. Richmond - 12:00 pm ET - ESPN2
MCCC vs. Del Tech Stanton - 2:00 pm ET
Oregon State vs. UCLA - 4:00 pm ET - FSN
Denver vs. Troy - 8:30 pm ET

Brown vs. Harvard - 7:00 pm ET
Yale vs. Dartmouth - 7:00 pm ET
Penn vs. Columbia - 7:00 pm ET

In addition to our recap, read about the Tigers' win over Columbia on goprincetontigers.com, courtesy of the Associated Press and on gocolumbialions.com.

The Ithaca Journal scouts Princeton.

Mudd Library's blog remembers the Year of the Tiger.

Pete Carril discusses what the Kings mean to Sacramento.

Richmond hosts St. Louis.

Troy welcomes Denver to Alabama.

Oregon State visits UCLA. Beavers head coach Craig Robinson asks his team's fans to stay patient.

Bill Bradley was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.

Princeton recruit Denton Koon and his fellow Liberty High School seniors went out in style, winning their final home game over Central High School of Saint Joseph.

Running a Steve Goodrich picture I hadn't seen before, the New York Daily News has Princeton/UCLA as number four on their list of NCAA Tournament's Top 20 Greatest Upsets.

Around the Ivy League: Harvard (17-4 / 6-1) survived Yale (11-10 / 4-3) by three at Lavietes Pavilion. Cornell (6-15 / 2-5) outscored Penn (9-11 / 3-3) by a 19-8 margin in the overtime session of an 82-71 Big Red victory. The Quakers missed a free throw with the score tied and one second left in regulation. Tucker Halpern totalled 25 in a 75-66 Brown (9-12 / 2-5) win over Dartmouth (5-16 / 1-6).

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Columbia pictures.

February 12, 2011 at 12:16 am
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton, Robert Solomon

Photos from today's game courtesy Robert Solomon.

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Princeton 76 Columbia 46.

February 11, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Filed under 10-11, Audio, Basketball, Princeton

Box Score : HD Box Score

Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Ian Hummer & Dan Mavraides:

It is hard to decide. I'll let you choose. Which was more impressive?

The way Princeton was able to dominate Columbia inside or the way the Tigers shut down the Lions on defense?

Ian Hummer scored a career best 25 points on 9-13 shooting and added 12 rebounds as Princeton raced to an 8-2 lead and never trailed. It was Hummer's fourth double-double of the campaign.

Kareem Maddox (10 points, seven rebounds) and Dan Mavraides (a steady 17) were able to frustrate the Ivy League's leading scorer Noruwa Agho into 6-16 marksmanship and four turnovers. No other Lion hit double digits.

The Tigers had 13 assists against one TO in the opening frame, building a 42-26 edge at the break as they assisted on 76.5% of their baskets. Ben Hazel's coast-to-coast drive and dish to Brendan Connolly ended a 13-2 run at the horn. The lead stayed above 12 for the final 22:22.

In the second half the Lions made 4-29 (13.8%) of their attempts and did not record a field goal in the final 15:07 of regulation. Columbia reached the final buzzer at 27.6%, a season low for a Tiger foe.

"I was really pleased with their focus," Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson said of his team's overall performance. "I was very, very pleased with how we competed defensively."

Douglas Davis had 10, giving him 1,015 points for his career and moving him past Will Venable into 26th on the Princeton scoring chart.

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New Recruit - Brian Fabrizius.

February 11, 2011 at 11:41 am
Filed under Basketball, Princeton, Recruiting

The fourth member of Princeton's 2011 recruiting class is both the rawest prospect as well as the most intriguing one.

6'11" Brian Fabrizius, a post-graduate player at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire announced earlier in the week that he would join Sydney Johnson's Tigers in the academic class of 2015, pending admission.

Fabrizius missed the majority of his senior season at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL with a pair of injuries. This morning I spoke at length with KUA head coach Mike Olson, who shared his observations about the newest Princeton recruit. His quotes and analysis plus links to additional evaluations and videos can be found after the jump.

Read full, detailed profiles on all four members of Princeton's '11 class including exclusive interviews with each of their high school coaches here.

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Friday News:

February 11, 2011 at 9:25 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, MCCC, Oregon State, Princeton, Recruiting, Today's News, Will Venable

Today's Game: Princeton (17-4 / 5-0) vs. Columbia (12-8 / 3-3)
Location: Levien Gymnasium - New York City, NY
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: N/A
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: Princeton leads 139-84.
Last meeting: Princeton 67 Columbia 52 - 2/27/10.

Penn vs. Cornell - 7:00 pm ET
Brown vs. Dartmouth - 7:00 pm ET
Yale vs. Harvard - 7:00 pm ET

The Daily Princetonian, the Trenton Times, the Columbia Spectator, the Ithaca Journal and the Cornell Daily Sun preview this weekend's games.

The Columbia student paper also has a piece focusing on Kareem Maddox.

Mercer (13-14) clinched a spot in the Region XIX playoffs with a 67-65 comeback victory over Morris. The Vikings survived a steal and three point shot attempt in the game's final two seconds. Phew.

A statement was sent in a 69-42 Denver (12-12) victory over SBC East-leading FAU.

Oregon State (9-14) fell 67-56 at USC.

Former Tiger Tim Neff is quoted in a piece about the retirement of Bruce Leib after 35 years as a head coach, 33 at Mullen Prep.

The Princeton Packet covers the Tigers' win over Penn and declares the rivalry with the Quakers to almost be meaningful again.

Princeton recruit Denton Koon has played well during Liberty's recent three game winning streak.

Will Venable (.mp3) joined XX Sports Radio San Diego in-studio.

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Coach Sydney Johnson - 2/10/11.

February 10, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Filed under Basketball, Coach Johnson Interview, Princeton

Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon sat down at Jadwin Gym on Thursday afternoon to converse about Princeton's three recent victories over Harvard, Dartmouth and Penn prior to previewing the team's first Ivy League road weekend at Columbia and Cornell.

This Q&A is 21:00+ in length.

Interviews with Coach Johnson will appear on this site every week during the 2010-11 season.

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