Men's Basketball: Tigers drop to 0-2 in OT

After Princeton (0-2 overall) called a timeout while down three with 10.3 seconds left in overtime, Maine’s defense pressured Princeton’s shooters but backed off Finley at the top of the key. The low-post specialist opted to pass, and freshman guard Max Huc missed a contested three as time expired.

“It’s painful, you have to learn this way,” head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said. “We’ve been in some ball games, but we haven’t turned the corner. I just hope that we can learn faster.”

Princeton’s largest lead of the second half was seven points, which it held as late as 5:54 left in regulation, but the Tigers were without a field goal over the final 5:04. Maine’s defense allowed few open looks over this stretch while its offense found defensive gaps in Princeton’s small lineup.

“We found a mismatch here or there, holes in their defense,” Maine head coach Ted Woodward said. “I thought our defense stepped up when it had to.”

Freshman guard Doug Davis led Princeton with 14 points. Sophomore guard Dan Mavraides scored 13, but only two came after halftime. Sophomore forward Kareem Maddox led all players with 10 rebounds and five assists to go along with seven points.

Princeton built its lead through strong glass play, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points, and Mavraides drilled several open jumpers. For the contest, Princeton outrebounded Maine 39-25 and outshot the visitors 44 percent to 40.4 percent, but the young Tigers — only 20 percent of the team’s total minutes were played by juniors and seniors — were consistently plagued by errant crosscourt passes and loose balls in traffic, accumulating 19 turnovers to Maine’s 10.

“[We need to] know what we’re doing,” Johnson said. “We need to execute. We got some guys playing big minutes who haven’t done that before. It takes a special nerve to not get rattled. I think at some point you get over that.”

The Black Bears seized momentum going into overtime, but the Tigers matched them shot-for-shot until two Maine free throws with 1:31 remaining and a missed Princeton jumper with 34 seconds to go forced the home team to foul.

“I don’t know if we were rattled [going into OT], we just had to take care of the ball better,” Maddox said. “It’s a game we could have won.”

Whether the loss is chalked up to nerves or inconsistency, the one constant is Princeton’s youth and inexperience. Davis played 43 of 45 minutes, while Huc, who played only two minutes against Central Michigan, clocked in 33 tonight to go four of six from the field for nine points along with two steals. Mavraides played 16 minutes on Friday but turned in 37 last night.

“I think we can have contributions from different players,” Johnson said. “I have confidence in these young men, and I think they believe in each other.”

Princeton was not without a highlight-reel play. With 6:29 left in the first half, Davis lobbed the ball toward the rim. As the Maine players looked to rebound, Maddox flew in from the wing and emphatically slammed the alley-oop home, bringing the crowd to its feet and giving the team a 24-23 lead. The dunk was part of a 12-0 run that gave the Tigers a 31-23 first-half lead.

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“As much as we had a spark early, we needed to close out this game,” Johnson said.

Two straight Maine baskets at the end of the half, including one as the clock wound down to zero, cut Princeton’s lead to four points at the break. Mavraides led all scorers with 11 first-half points, including three of four from distance, while the team outrebounded the visitors 18-10 in the first frame. But even as Princeton maintained its lead for most of the second half — the Tigers led from Maddox’ dunk until the game was tied with 38 seconds left in regulation — Maine did well to regulate the tempo and force the issue in the paint.

“I don’t think we had a good understanding that we weren’t controlling the game,” Johnson said. “To do a few key things here or there would’ve helped things out.”

Finley is still hampered by a hand injury but played 26 minutes and showed several strong moves under the basket for eight points and eight rebounds. Junior center Pawel Buczak started for the Tigers at center, chipping in six rebounds. Princeton travels to West Point, N.Y., on Sunday to take on Army.