Bragging rights go to Rutgers

Unfortunately for the men's basketball team, lady luck showed up on time but left early in its interstate rivalry game against Rutgers this Saturday. Despite staking out a 30-25 lead at the half, Princeton (2-5 overall) could not secure victory and fell, 54-50, to the Scarlet Knights (5-2).

With the scores close in the final minutes, the Tigers at times seemed to be fortune's favored sons. With three minutes, 34 seconds left in the second half, sophomore guard Nick Lake threaded a pass to sophomore guard Marcus Schroeder, who made a layup to knot the score at 48. The points appeared to rejuvenate Princeton as the game proceeded into crunch time.

Following that easy two, however, both teams tightened up on defense. Neither the Tigers nor the Scarlet Knights scored in the next two and a half minutes, a drought broken only by a bit of bad luck that went against the Orange and Black.

Schroeder hoisted an errant three-point shot with 1:10 remaining, and sophomore center Zach Finley dove aggressively for the loose ball. In the resulting scrum, Finley fouled Rutgers forward Jaron Griffin, who hit the two ensuing free throws to put his team up, 50-48.

Scarlet Knight forward J.R. Inman came up with a big play on Princeton's next possession, stealing the ball with less than 30 seconds left and forcing the Tigers to foul teammate Corey Chandler. Luck again seemed to be on Princeton's side as Chandler misfired on both throws, but Inman crushed the Tigers' hopes once more by grabbing a huge offensive rebound on Chandler's second miss.

Inman sent the ball back out to Chandler, who Princeton immediately sent to the line again. Given a second chance, Chandler coolly nailed both foul shots to put Rutgers up, 52-48.

Despite an offensive rebound and putback by senior forward Kyle Koncz with six seconds left, Princeton ultimately could not overcome the deficit. In the second half, the team's shooting percentage was a hair under 31 percent.

The Tigers' loss was all the more disappointing because of their excellent performance in the first half. When asked about the difference between the two halves, head coach Sydney Johnson '97 did not point to any systematic changes.

"To be honest, I just thought we shot better [in the first half]," Johnson said.

In contrast to sluggish offensive starts against recent opponents — Princeton scored only three points in the first five minutes of its against Seton Hall and none over the same period in its game against Chaminade — the Tigers immediately attacked Rutgers behind the play of their starting sophomore guards.

After Schroeder stole the ball with 18:38 remaining in the half, sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn hit a jump shot to put Princeton on the board. Gunn dogged the Scarlet Knights' defenders throughout the afternoon, netting 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to secure a rare double-double as a guard.

Johnson praised Gunn after the game, stressing his versatility.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"He's contributed in many different ways," Johnson said.

Following Gunn's opening points, Schroeder twice scored inside the paint. When combined with the perimeter game — Koncz nailed his first long-range shot of the day shortly after that — the Tigers' offense was rolling. The team shot over 46 percent in the half while holding Rutgers to under 41 percent from the field.

Princeton's blessed existence in the first stanza began to unravel at the onset of the second. Inman, who gave the Tigers' interior defenders all they could handle, attacked the basket on the Scarlet Knights' first possession and forced Finley to foul him.

It was the onset of a 5-1 run that took more than five minutes, during which Princeton's only points came on a Schroeder free throw and all of Rutgers' points came from Inman.

With 16:26 remaining in the game, Inman stole the ball from Finley and laid it in himself, reducing the Tigers' lead to 31-30. Inman finished the game with 16 points and eight rebounds to go with his three steals.

"Overall, we were pleased with how we guarded him," Johnson said. "He's a talented player, so he's going to make tough shots. The only thing you can do on defense is make him take as many tough shots as possible."

After Inman's basket, the two teams traded leads for the remainder of the half, with the margin never growing wider than the five-point advantage enjoyed by the Scarlet Knights with 5:50 remaining.

With the close loss, Princeton has now dropped five straight games after starting out 2-0. The reason may lie in an opening schedule that Johnson described as one of the most difficult that the Tigers have faced in years. In the end, however, these trials by fire may be the best way to prepare for the upcoming Ivy League schedule.

"Every single guy here is much better than they were two months ago," Johnson said.

If that trend continues, lady luck might stop checking out early and start sticking around until the end of Princeton's games.