Tigers find stride Saturday in romp over Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Fans stood and applauded, the players let a few smiles come out and head coach Joe Scott '87 looked relieved. An Ivy League title may be slipping out of reach, but at least for one night, the men's basketball team played like the juggernaut they were expected to be.

After a dismal effort against Yale on Friday night, Princeton (12-11 overall, 3-6 Ivy League) rebounded for a 69-52 shellacking of Brown (9-13, 2-6), avenging an earlier loss at Jadwin Gym to the Bears. A Penn loss at Yale on Saturday kept the Tigers mathematically alive in the Ivy race — five games behind the Quakers with five to play.

This game displayed Princeton style in living color. The Tigers shot a season-best 65 percent from the field, hit nine of their 16 three-point shots, worked the backdoor cut to perfection and attacked every loose ball and rebounding opportunity.

"This is a sign of us getting better at the things we've been stressing," Scott said, having placed much of the blame for the losses at Harvard and Dartmouth on the team's inability to deliver in those areas.

Despite Princeton's strong start on both ends of the floor, Brown managed to stay close thanks to some difficult shots and a huge free throw disparity. A free throw by guard Keenan Jeppeson with one minute, 55 seconds remaining in the first half cut what had been an eight-point Tiger lead to two before a free throw by senior center Mike Stephens and a layup by junior guard Scott Greenman gave Princeton a five-point cushion at the break.

Having seen leads against Brown (four points), Dartmouth (nine), Harvard (four), Penn (18) and Cornell (nine) evaporate in the second half ealier this season, the Tigers were far from complacent — and their second half play showed it.

The crisp passing and sharp shooting continued in the second half as Princeton used a 10-0 run right out of the break to build a 43-28 lead with 16:27 to play, a lead that only got larger as the game progressed.

Brown star point guard Jason Forte then hit a three to bring the lead down to 12, but the Tiger lead swelled to as many as 26 points from there as the Orange and Black cruised to their first Ivy League road victory.

One-man show

Forte led all scorers with 26 on 7-14 shooting, but his teammates, who burned Princeton in the first meeting between these teams, were held in check. No other Bear made more than two shots, and Forte's supporting cast was just 7-23 from the field.

"Our focus was staying on their shooters," senior guard Will Venable said. "Today we lasted more than 30 minutes."

After being held without a field goal in the Yale game, Venable and senior center Judson Wallace rediscovered their groove against Brown. Wallace was 3-6 from the floor in 19 minutes of play, and Venable led the team with 18 points.

Senior center Mike Stephens scored 15 points in 22 minutes, and sophomore forward Luke Owings added 10.

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The Tigers drained as many field goals in the first half against Brown as they did in the entire game against Yale, capitalizing on 14 attempts.

"In year one here I think we're at where we were in year three at Air Force," said Scott, whose Air Force team won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship in his fourth season. "That doesn't make Will Venable feel any better. That doesn't make Judson Wallace feel any better."

What might make the seniors on this team feel better is a winning Ivy record. The Tigers need to go at least 4-1 in their last five games to avoid becoming the only Princeton team to ever finish under .500 in league play.

After Saturday night's effort, avoiding that dubious distinction does not seem so improbable.