Coming of Age: Men's hoops topples Xavier, 58-52

It was happening again. A 35-26 second-half lead had evaporated. Just as in years past, a tiring Princeton men's basketball team looked like it was about to wilt against Atlantic 10 foe Xavier.

But this time, Princeton still had something left in the tank. Head coach John Thompson '88 had substituted liberally all game, giving nine Tigers significant minutes. And with the game on the line toward the end of the second half, it was Princeton (3-3) that went on a crucial 8-0 run and came away with a 58-52 victory.

"It's just going with my gut — with who I thought should be out there," Thompson said of his substitution pattern. "There are certain guys that have certain strengths and you want to get them in when they can do what they do."

With the score tied at 50-50 and two minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game, senior center Nate Walton fired a pass from above the top of the key to freshman forward Andre Logan, who was cutting down the middle of the lane. Logan's layup was goaltended, giving Princeton the lead.

The Tigers then picked up a key defensive stop, and a free throw by sophomore guard Kyle Wente made the score 53-50 with 1:37 to play. That set up the game's key possession, on which Xavier (5-2) was unable to get the ball inside. The Musketeers were forced to settle for a long off-balance jumper by guard Lionel Chalmers.

Chalmers — who finished 0-for-6 from the field — missed this attempt. Logan rebounded, and the Tigers then made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to win by a comfortable 58-52 margin. Until a pair of free throws by center David West with four seconds remaining, Xavier had been held scoreless for 2:40 by a Princeton team that had caught a second wind.

"They executed their stuff better than we guarded it, and they guarded our stuff better than we executed it," Xavier head coach Skip Prosser said.

All-around performance

Indeed, the Tigers outplayed the Musketeers in almost every facet of the game except rebounding. Even the Xavier press, which led to some easy baskets in the first few minutes, was able to force just 12 turnovers in the game. The Musketeers themselves committed 13, most of which were the result of careless passes within their half-court offense.

And though they were beaten on the boards by a 31-23 margin for the game, the Tigers actually held a 14-12 advantage in that category in the second half thanks to the efforts of Logan and Walton, who combined for 11 rebounds on the night.

"They're such a powerful team," Thompson said of Xavier. "They have good inside players. We just wanted to concentrate on our defense."

At the outset, the Tigers had difficulty controlling West down low. On his way to a game-high 18 points, West had a powerful dunk and three layups in the early going, as the Musketeers built a 19-12 lead.

But while it took time for the Princeton zone defense to close off the middle, the Tiger offense was sharp. Junior guard Mike Bechtold, who finished with 16 points, made three three-pointers in a row in the first 5:48 of the game. Walton then began to assert himself down low with a pair of layups in traffic. By the time Princeton battled to a 19-19 tie with 5:27 remaining in the first half, Walton and Bechtold had already combined for 16 points.

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And after this duo held the Tigers together early, it was the play of two crucial substitutes that made the difference in the second half — Logan and junior guard Ahmed El-Nokali, who had finally returned from a groin injury.

After making his first appearance of the season with 11:49 remaining in the first half, El-Nokali pulled up lame again toward the end of the stanza, and it was unclear whether he would be able to return. In the second half, however, he came back into the contest and provided a much-needed cool head against the Xavier press.

'Calming effect'

"He really just played his first live basketball in five months this week," Walton said of El-Nokali, whose practice time has been limited because of his injury. "He really has a calming effect in the backcourt."

In contrast to El-Nokali's cool demeanor there was Logan, who electrified the crowd with several highlight plays down the stretch. With 16:00 to play in the second half and the Tigers holding a 35-29 lead, Xavier forward Lloyd Price drove to the basket and tried a reverse layup. Logan blocked it toward the sidelines.

Price hustled after the ball and immediately drove back across the line to try a one-handed floater. Logan blocked that one straight out of bounds.

"I just wanted to stop him from getting there," Logan said. "I knew he was going to go reverse the first time. It just fired me up — and fired the team up."

It was only fitting that Saturday's game took place the same evening as Winter Formals, when most of the campus' upperclassmen descended upon the 'Street' in lieu of the game. This young Tiger team started slowly in front of a crowd full of freshmen and sophomores that remained fairly quiet through most of the first half.

But throughout the second half, much of the underclassmen-laden student section stood on every play, watching Princeton come of age in the first major upset win of the John Thompson era.