Princeton offense misfires

Had Princeton's 62-39 loss to Colgate on Saturday afternoon come on the football field, one could have at least said that, though their defense failed them, the Tigers were able to put together a nice day offensively.

Instead, it was the struggling men's basketball team (1-3 overall) that suffered the defeat in Hamilton, N.Y., on Saturday night, shooting under 33 percent from the field and connecting on just five-of-20 three-point shots against the Raiders (4-3). Equally disturbing to a team that prides itself on sharing the basketball was the fact that Princeton finished with only three assists, compared to 10 turnovers.

"We had some good passes," sophomore forward Kyle Koncz said, "but we just didn't make our shots. There's really nothing more you can say."

Cold shooting doomed the Tigers to a 21-11 halftime deficit and prevented them from making an extended push thereafter. Princeton even came close to matching a school record for the lowest point total since the advent of the shot clock — 35, set in a loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay during the 1995-96 season.

On the other end of the floor, the Tigers could find no answer for Colgate guard Alvin Reed, who scored all 16 of his points in the second half. Led by Reed, the Raiders shot 60 percent after halftime and turned the game into a laugher.

With eight minutes, 57 seconds remaining in the game, a free throw by junior center Patrick Ekeruo brought Princeton to within eight points — the closest it came over the final 26 minutes. Two minutes later, though, three-pointers by Reed on back-to-back possessions launched the Raiders on a 20-8 run to close the game and crush the Tigers' hopes of a comeback.

Ekeruo, who earned the first start of his career in place of sophomore center Harrison Schaen, was one of the lone bright spots for Princeton. Despite foul trouble that plagued him from the opening minutes, Ekeruo managed to tie a career high with nine points and lead the Tigers with five rebounds.

In the opening minutes of the game, however, Ekeruo fell victim to an officiating staff that called an extremely tight game on both ends, picking up his second foul 2:25 into the first half.

In the game's first four minutes, the two teams combined for only five points, but eight fouls. The trend continued after Ekeruo was replaced by Schaen, who was whistled for two fouls himself over the next five minutes.

From there, Scott had to dig deep into his bench — using junior guard Edwin Buffmire and sophomore guard Kevin Steuerer for the first time this season — and shift junior forward Luke Owings over to center.

With much of their size sitting on the bench, rebounding was once again among the most glaring weaknesses for the Tigers, whose average rebounding margin now stands at minus 12.5 for the season. Colgate outrebounded Princeton 34 to 22, led by 15 boards from Kyle Chones.

Meanwhile, Owings, forced to play out of position, was once again unable to find his offensive game, scoring just three points on one-of-four shooting. For Owings, whom many expected to emerge as the team's leading scorer this season, it was the third performance of five points or less in the first four games.

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Senior guard Scott Greenman was similarly unproductive, making just one-of-seven shots on the way to a two-point afternoon. Greenman and Owings have now combined to average just 13.1 points per game this season, with each shooting below 40 percent from the floor.

The Tigers' only reliable offensive weapon has been sophomore forward Noah Savage, who led Princeton in scoring for the fourth game in a row on Saturday, netting 13 points and hitting on three-of-six attempts from beyond the arc.

Though his efforts were not enough to keep the Raiders from running away with the game early, Savage saw hope in the way his teammates continued to battle, even as their shots kept missing their mark.

"The difference between this game and the losses to Drexel and Lafayette," Savage said, "was that this was the only one where we stayed in it the whole way. This was a step forward. Now, we just have to maintain that level of effort and start making shots."

In other words, there is nothing on the Tigers' road back to respectability that they have not done many times before.