box score
audio - coach sydney johnson, marcus schroeder & zach finley
73 days passed since the last time Princeton was on the winning end of a basketball game.
The Tigers' longest losing streak in program history came to a close on Sunday afternoon against Division II Dominican College. Princeton finished its annual exam break with a 60-46 victory over the Chargers.
Sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn was the game's high scorer, recording 13 points. Gunn connected from outside the arc three times.
Zach Finley filled up the box score from inside the paint with 12 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots, four assists and seven turnovers.
Dominican's only player in double figures was Will Carty, who tallied 12.
Neither team was able to put together many defensive stops in the first ten minutes. Princeton could not stop up Charger drives. Dominican did not have a player that could contain Finley one-on-one and when Finley was doubled down low he was able to pass outside to teammates on the perimeter.
Finley scored eight of Princeton's first 11 points and assisted a three point shot by Kyle Koncz. Finley's baskets came in variety of ways. He started with a running hook, curled around his man for his second basket and laid in a Gunn lob for field goal number three.
Princeton's lead was just one when Kresimar Knez scored inside at the 13:57 mark and the two teams were tied at 15 when Jonathan Guznman's drive drew three Princeton defenders leaving Knez unattended on the other side of the basket.
Nick Lake, subbed in for Noah Savage, passed up a defended look on the wing, waiting patiently to find Gunn up top for a three pointer. Coach Johnson yelled "good offense!" to his team from the bench before the ball found its mark.
It was the start of an 18-4 run that opened up the contest.
A deep hook shot from Knez brought Dominican back within one. Gunn and Lake each hit from outside, the latter coming when Finley passed across his body as the double team arrived.
Bobby Foley came off the bench to connect on his only three point shot. By the time a hook shot from backup center Pawel Buczak somehow torqued its way down the cylinder, the Tigers were up 35-21.
The second half of this run came with the young lineup of Lake, Kareem Maddox, Buczak, Marcus Schroeder and Foley on the floor.
Dan Mavraides, seeing his first action of the season, was the final recipient of a pass from Finley out of the interior and his first shot as a Tiger was true. Princeton headed into the locker room up 39-21.
Princeton was 15-25 from the field (60.0%) in the first 20 minutes. 20 of Princeton's points came through Zach Finley. The Tigers connected on six of 12 chances outside (50.0%) and were 3-4 at the free throw line (75.0%). 12 of Princeton's 15 baskets were the result of assists.
Dominican had just two assists to go with 10 turnovers. The Chargers shot 9-23 (39.1%) from the floor and were 1-3 (33.3%) from the perimeter. Dominican went to the line twice, making both attempts.
Will Carty beat Savage to the basket to open the second frame. Savage got three points back at the other end of the court, pulling up behind the line. Tim Matchett scored for Dominican and Finley was his equal on Princeton's next possession, cutting down the lane and laying home a Savage pass.
Princeton bumped their lead up to 23 when Buczak scored inside and the Tigers were in front 52-27 at the 14:06 mark when Savage rolled in a shot spinning away from his man in the post.
Then things got ugly.
The Tigers, using a variety of different combinations, stopped scoring. Dominican, struggling against the bigger, stronger Princeton players, couldn't do a whole lot better.
Lowlights of this stretch included five fouls in a 48 second span (four straight on the Tigers before an illegal screen by Knez) and Finley unable to bank home three shots under the basket, grabbing an offensive rebound on each and then missing both free throws when going up a fourth time.
Princeton scored six points over an 11 minute span, but Dominican could only cut three points off of their deficit.
Dominican found their shooting stroke in the final five minutes of regulation, and a Damien Davis layup brought the Chargers within 58-45 at the 1:59 mark. Dominican used a time out and Sydney Johnson did not hesitate to put Savage, Schroeder, Koncz, Gunn and Finley back in, taking out his entire lineup, including Michael Strittmatter (after only 53 seconds of court time) and Matt Sargeant (after just 10 seconds of court time) to make sure the lead did not get slimmer.
A touchdown pass from an inbounding Gunn to Noah Savage ahead of the pack was slammed home with two hands and Princeton ran out the clock on their first win of 2008.
The competition hadn't been of the highest quality and the last 15 minutes of play were not particularly encouraging, but for a team that desperately needed confidence heading into their league schedule, beating Dominican was just what Princeton needed at the end of the day.
Notes:
-Princeton finished with 21 turnovers, 12 in the second half. The Tigers also dished out 19 assists.
-If you had: Zach Finley, Right hand, 5:24 left in the second half and Game 15 you won the "Details of Princeton's first dunk of the season" pool. Kareem Maddox's one-handed follow of a missed Lincoln Gunn layup was waved off for offensive interference 13 seconds later.
-All 14 Tigers who suited up saw the floor. Chris Petrie and Jason Briggs were the two players in street clothes.
-Alex Okafor was not in attendance at Sunday's game. The junior from San Jose did not appear at Jadwin Gym because of a "team decision" and it is unclear if or when he will return to the Tigers.
-Princeton will be the last team in Division I to start conference play when they tip off at home against Dartmouth on Friday at 7:30 pm ET. The game will be the 100th consecutive Ivy contest that princetonbasketball.com has covered in person.
