Tigers Salvage Split

No one ever accused Mike Stephens of having a complex game.

Saturday night, the senior center's ability to keep things simple was just what the doctor ordered for the ailing men's basketball team. Stephens played the most productive 25 minutes of his career, scoring 23 points with a mix of simple low post moves, open three-pointers and free throws.

His spark off the bench — combined with a suddenly stingy Tiger defense — produced a lopsided second half that propelled Princeton (10-6 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) to a 58-43 victory over visiting Yale (4-11, 0-2).

"Mike doesn't do anything," head coach Joe Scott said afterwards, meaning it as a compliment. "He passes the ball out and runs the offense. When there's eight seconds on the shot clock, he tries to make a move, and he has the stuff to put the ball in the basket. The game's easy for Mike."

Early on, the game didn't look easy for anyone wearing Orange and Black. Yale senior guard Edwin Draughn drained an open three-pointer on the first possession of the game, evoking flashbacks of the long-range daggers that had crippled the Tigers the night before.

And indeed, the first half unfolded similarly, as Princeton once again struggled to defend and fell behind a visitor it was favored to defeat. Over the first 20 minutes, the Eli lead oscillated between two and five points as the Tigers labored to put points on the board.

"The team was very unconfident coming in," Scott said. "I think you saw that in the first half — missed layups, a little tentativeness."

A parade to the charity stripe helped Princeton stay in the game — the Tigers hit 11-of-13 free throws for the half, while Yale didn't make a single trip to the line.

Senior center Judson Wallace hit six-of-seven, but it was clear he was not his normal self. Scott revealed after the game that Wallace's chronic sore back had flared up so painfully that he had almost not been able to play.

With Wallace aching, Stephens was thrust into action. He drained two threes and put back an offensive rebound in the first half, keeping Princeton within striking distance. Those three buckets were the Tigers' only made field goals over the first 15 minutes of the game.

Senior guard Will Venable finally broke the drought with an offensive rebound putback of his own. A minute later, he drained a three from the top of the key to cut the Eli lead to one. Venable finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Two free throws by sophomore forward Luke Owings put Princeton on top for the first time, but Yale's Eric Flato hit a three at the buzzer to give the Elis a 26-24 lead going into the locker room.

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After Yale extended its lead to start the second half, threes by Venable and Owings knotted the score at 30 with 15:03 to play. About the time Stephens' reentered the game — he played the final 17 minutes as Wallace cheered from the bench — momentum quietly shifted. Afterwards, Scott attributed the change in fortune to improved effort at the defensive end.

"We started to guard and guard and guard," Scott said. "All of a sudden, offense got easier. All of a sudden, we broke through and things became available to us."

Indeed, Princeton held the Elis without a field goal for over five minutes, and in the meantime, Stephens went to work. After Venable hit a foul shot that gave the Tigers a one-point lead they would never relinquish, Stephens dropped in back-to-back lefty hooks in the paint. Stephens then drew a foul and made two free throws, hit another hook shot and finally drained a three-pointer from the top of the key. When his personal 11-point run was over, Princeton led, 42-36, with 7:08 to go.

"I got my shots within our offense," Stephens said. "I hit a couple threes, which helped me relax a bit, and my hook started dropping, which also gave me a lot more confidence."

Stephens' defense was just as critical as his offense. He battled Yale junior center Dominick Martin for position in the paint all night long, holding the fomer Tiger to six points and four boards.

The Elis' offense continued to sputter late, and the Tigers' lead was never seriously threatened. They stretched the lead to nine, 47-38, when a triple-teamed Stephens found junior point guard Scott Greenman for a wide-open three. Down the stretch, Princeton made 11-of-12 free throws to win going away. Fittingly, Stephens punctuated the victory by blocking Yale's final shot of the night with 15 seconds left.

As much as Stephens' heroics ignited his team and the crowd, it was a play that didn't show up on that stat sheet that got the loudest ovation of the night. Midway through the second half, in the midst of Stephens' surge, freshman forward Noah Savage went horizontal to snag a loose ball and called a timeout to keep possession. As Savage sprinted back to the bench, pumping his fist to the frenzied Jadwin Jungle, his teammates ran to mid-court to greet him.

"Noah Savage diving with his face and both hands to get that loose ball," Scott said afterwards with a shake of his head, "that's what I'm talking about. When we start coming up with every loose ball, our crowd's going to know that's what we cheer for here. I think you're going to see an effort like this for the rest of the year."