box score
audio - coach sydney johnson
audio - nick lake
Damon Huffman's three point shot began a 14-0 Brown run that decided the Bears' 64-57 victory over Princeton on Friday night. Trailing 43-38 with 11:57 to play in regulation, Brown scored on four straight possessions to pull away from the Tigers.
Huffman finished with a game-high 18 points, one of four Brown players in double figures.
Senior Noah Savage and sophomore Nick Lake each recorded 16 for Princeton, who lost for the 20th consecutive time away from home.
Instead of passively running their offense, Tigers looked to aggressively attack Brown from the opening tip. Princeton started Friday's game on a 17-9 run, getting contributions from three different sources off the bench.
The first was Nick Lake, who was fouled by Scott Friske on an up-and-under move. Both free throws were good and Princeton led by three with 12:26 remaining. Lake doubled his career high against Brown and clawed for seven rebounds in the best performance of his young career.
Second was lanky back-up center Pawel Buczak, replacing Zach Finley when he picked up his second foul. Buczak waited patiently in the paint for a cutting Lake who scored heading down the left side of the lane while being fouled by Friske.
Third was Jason Briggs. Lincoln Gunn deflected a pass by Skrelja on the perimeter and tossed an outlet pass ahead to Briggs, his windmill layup taking Princeton to an eight point lead.
The Tiger reserves outscored Brown's 28-3.
A three point shot off the left wing by Huffman, the first trey for either team, brought the lead back down to five and when Adrian Williams shoveled a pass to a cutting Matt Mullery, the Bears trailed by three. McAndrew got free under the Brown basket after a Gunn turnover and laid in a Skrelja pass to bring Brown within one.
Gunn suffered a miserable offensive game, going 0-10 from the field and turning the ball over six times.
Princeton responded with six straight of their own.
Savage found a cutting Lake off the free throw line to make the score 19-16.
Kyle Koncz drove and dished to Jason Briggs, who popped a quick jumper on the baseline.
Savage grabbed a missed three point shot by Marcus Schroeder in traffic and was fouled going back up. Two free throws later it was 23-16 Tigers.
A lob to Mullery began a 7-0 spurt from the home team that evened the score with 2:51 to go after Huffman picked up a layup following another Princeton turnover.
The Tigers were particularly careless with the basketball in their second meeting with Brown, giving the ball away 10 times in the first half.
"It has been painful," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson outside his team's locker room. "All season long our turnovers have led to points for the other team. We're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves. It just kills us."
"We talked about not being casual with the basketball," shared Johnson. "You have to be decisive and I don't think we were."
Princeton led 27-25 on a long-armed left-handed hook shot by Buczak. Skrelja evened the score with :44 on the clock and following an errant three point attempt by Koncz, Brown held for the final shot. A high-arcing Huffman three pointer right in front of the Princeton bench settled snug in the basket as the buzzer sounded and the Bears raced off the floor with their biggest lead of the first half.
The Tigers were fortunate that the Bears had missed several point blank shots in the first twenty minutes and that Brown only scored off of four of Princeton's 10 giveaways.
Princeton shot 11-25 in the opening frame (44.0%). The Tigers were 0-8 from outside the arc but did not force too many unnecessary three point shots, as they were able to score 20 points in the paint. Princeton was also 5-7 from the free throw line (71.4%).
Brown went 12-29 from the field (41.4%), 2-9 from deep (22.2%) and 4-9 at the stripe (44.4%). The Bears had seven first half steals.
Miscommunication between Huffman inside and McAndrew outside resulted in a pass to the bleachers on Brown's first possession. Gunn found Savage beyond the arc the first time the Tigers touched the ball and Savage's triple tied the score.
Kevin Steuerer blew up the Bears' next time down the court and Gunn hit Savage in rhythm for a quick layup.
Huffman sped by Finley on a drive with 17:58 to go, tying the score at 32.
Gunn found Finley back-cutting on an inbounds pass an instant before the official would have called a five second violation to hand the lead back to Princeton.
Mullery was left alone outside the arc and he sized up a flat-footed three point shot that resulted in Brown's first lead of the second half. Nick Lake answered from the far corner, Gunn passing up an open shot to swing the ball to his teammate. Gunn blocked Peter Sullivan's attempt from behind the arc and Princeton retained possession when the ball deflected off Sullivan's body.
Out of the under-16:00 media time out Gunn fed Savage in the same spot Lake had connected from and Savage's jumper spun around and in to take the Tiger lead back up to five, 40-35.
Gunn got a full head of steam behind him after picking off a Williams pass, but became caught in the air trying to pick a recipient for his pass, throwing the ball beyond the reach of his teammates.
Mullery backed down the weaker Buczak in the paint and scored while going to his left. Lake responded with his second three, set up by Koncz, who passed up a slightly contested shot in place of Lake's open look.
Gunn just missed getting the tips of his fingers on a swing pass from McAndrew to Huffman and Huffman had enough space drifitng behind a screen to hit the shot that would start Brown's deciding run.
Mark McAndrew's only made three point shot of the game gave the Bears the lead back and Princeton would not catch Craig Robinson's team. Zach Finley was called for a foul on the play, racing out to try and contest the shot. McAndrew was unable to complete his four point play but Finley headed back to the bench with his fourth personal foul. Finley had returned to the game just 15 seconds before McAndrew's bucket and would not come back in down the stretch.
Marcus Schroeder's two free throws stopped the Brown run momentarily, but the Bears built their lead up to 12 on an Adrian Williams drive.
Back-to-back three point shots from senior co-captains Koncz and Savage cut Brown's lead in half with two minutes to go. Damon Huffman traveled when surrounded in the paint, giving the ball back to Princeton. Koncz was off the mark from outside with 1:14 on the clock, trying to take the lead down to three. Kareem Maddox, who played center for Princeton in the last seven minutes of the second half, was whistled for an over-the-back foul going for the rebound and Mark McAndrew's two free throws boosted the Brown bulge up to 59-51.
The Tigers could not get any closer than seven points in the last minute as time ran out on Princeton's eighth consecutive loss.
"We were playing hard, but there were just a couple plays we didn't make [during Brown's run]," said Lake.
"That was the difference."
Notes:
-Brown shot 8-15 from the field in the second half (53.3%).
-The Bears were 15-21 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes. The Bears went to the line 29 times against Princeton, as the Tigers committed 25 personal fouls. Princeton was 9-12 from the stripe.
-Princeton outrebounded Brown 34-28.
-Matt Mullery injured his knee on a collision with Noah Savage midway through the second half and did not return to the floor. Mullery was on crutches following the game.
-Kyle Koncz, who was a gametime decision, started for Princeton. Koncz played 30 minutes before fouling out. Despite a hip pointer that limited his mobility and affected his jump shot, Koncz sacrificed his body to draw two consecutive charges in the paint and picked up two more fouls trying to draw additional offensive fouls. It was a gutty performance for a Princeton player that deserved one full healthy season in his four years. "If we could all play like him, we would be alright," said Nick Lake about the senior from Strongsville, OH.
