M. hoops loses home opener to Florida International

Princeton had the early-season jitters. That and Florida International's quick defense limited the men's basketball team to 21 of 54 shooting from the field Saturday night en route to a 68-65 overtime victory.

The Panthers (4-0 overall) also kept Princeton (1-2) to 11-34 shooting behind the arc and created 19 turnovers which turned into points.

In a game similar to last year's 49-44 loss in Miami, the Tiger offense was not playing up to snuff. They dropped passes, missed layups and overthrew the breaking man more than a couple of times. On defense, the squad played a bit better, but still did not box out at times and left a few men open around the perimeter.

Still, Princeton had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. The clock showed 3.3 seconds left in the game, the score was knotted at 54 points a piece, and the Tigers had the ball on an inbounds pass under their own basket.

The pass went to senior guard Kyle Wente at the perimeter of the three-point arc. His man was picked, but in the mass of bodies, Wente was tripped up and forced to take a shot from his knees for the win.

The Tigers thought that the Florida International defender tripped him, but no foul was called. Both head coach John Thompson '88 and senior forward Ray Robins agreed afterwards that he was fouled.

The game should not have been that close at the end, though.

Princeton jumped out to a 9-2 lead after three minutes, 25 seconds of play after a Robins three-pointer. The lead stayed around seven points until, when it was 16-9 in favor of the Tigers, FIU made the play of the game.

It was not a player who made the play of the game, but head coach Donnie Marsh, who called a timeout and switched the defense from a man-to-man to a zone.

From that point on Princeton shot 32.6 percent from the field, after starting six-of-eight.

Around that time, Coach Marsh also brought in off the bench the player of the game, guard Fab Fisher. He was the team's vocal leader and also led the Panthers in steals and added 12 points. He also forced the Tigers to make a couple errant passes.

On the evening, sophomore point guard Will Venable had the most turnovers for Princeton with five, but also dished out seven assists. Junior guard Spencer Gloger had four turnovers, but led the team with 19 points.

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After the 16-9 lead and timeout, the Panthers outscored Princeton 11-7 in the last 13 minutes of the half in one of the worst two-team shooting performances in a while at Jadwin Gym. The squads combined for six of 30 shooting in the last 13 minutes, good for 20 percent shooting.

Both squads shot better in the second half, but Florida International found its offensive rythm and shot 13-24 from the field for 54.2 percent. Most of the shots were earned, but too many came from turnovers or after offensive rebounds.

The Panthers went on a 17-8 run in the first five minutes of the half. Down 37-31 after the spurt, the Tigers quickly closed the gap and it was at most a four-point game throughout the rest of regulation.

Going into the final minute, Princeton led, 54-52. With 49 seconds left, FIU called a timeout. They set up a play for Junior Matias to take a three-pointer, but his shot was off and appeared to be in Tiger possession before the rebounders dropped the ball. In the rush on the floor, Panther Nikola Novakovic picked it up and laid it in to even the score with 30 seconds left.

"We thought we'd get a shot at top with Spence," Thompson said. "They guarded that well, though."

The Panthers took control of the overtime first by winning the tip and then with two three-pointers made in the first 68 seconds by shooting specialist Slavcho Slavtchev.