Men's Basketball: Late free throws hold off Spartans

The Tigers (3-8 overall) played three games over winter break, and while the first two against Central Connecticut State (5-5) and Lafayette (4-8) didn’t end in Princeton’s favor, the Tigers have left the losses in 2008 thanks to a win against the Spartans.

The Tigers traveled to New Britain, Conn., on Dec. 20 and endured a disappointing 67-56 loss to Central Connecticut State. Despite a strong start — Princeton lead 17-8 with 11 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first half — Princeton’s early surge simply wasn’t enough for the win. After sophomore guard Dan Mavraides sunk a three-pointer to extend the lead to nine points, the Blue Devils took control of the ball, scoring 10 unanswered points in six minutes to take their first lead of the game. In spite of Mavraides’ early success behind the three-point line, the Tigers shot badly from the three for the rest of the half, hitting just three of their 16 attempts. In all, Princeton shot just 8-of-25 during the first 20 minutes, as the Blue Devils led 23-21 at the half.

“With Connecticut we got some pretty good shots, but they weren’t falling,” junior center Pawel Buczak said. “We came close a couple of times, and we had some pretty good shots, but we just missed them.”

The Blue Devils carried the momentum into the second half, scoring six unanswered points to take a definitive 29-21 lead. The Tigers, however, mounted a 13-6 run — ending with a shot by junior guard and co-captain Nick Lake — that cut Central Connecticut State’s lead to one point. Lake continued to dominate the offense in the second half, scoring five straight points to give Princeton a 41-40 lead with 10:21 left on the clock. Unfortunately for the Tigers, a trend this year has been their inability to score under pressure, as five of the their eight losses this season have been by fewer than 10 points. Central Connecticut State quickly answered Lake’s streak, and Princeton failed to fight back.

“I think the Connecticut game was like a lot of other games: We lost in the second half,” Lake said. “There were some shots we didn’t follow through on, and that’s all it took for the other team to go on a run. We just weren’t able to put them away early.”

Guiding the Blue Devils in their offensive surge were Robby Ptacek, who led all scorers with 20 points, and Ken Horton, who, despite sitting out for almost nine minutes of the game, scored 18 points including a late string of points that ensured a Central Connecticut State win.

After Christmas, Princeton was handed another excruciatingly close loss, this time at the hands of Lafayette. The 54-53 defeat was the closest match of season for the Tigers.

Trailing by one point with 28 seconds left on the clock, Princeton had one last chance to win. The Tigers got the last possession after a Leopard turnover that senior guard and co-captain Jason Briggs picked up at the baseline, and the Tigers immediately called a timeout. Freshman guard Doug Davis, who was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second time Dec. 15, took possession of the ball and spent most of those final seconds surveying the court for a play. With just five seconds left, Davis passed the ball to Mavraides, but the sophomore’s shot bounced off the rim. Mavraides grabbed his own rebound but couldn’t find the basket as the buzzer went off.

“We had a bunch of stretches where we played really well both offensively and defensively, but near the end of the game we had a couple of breakdowns,” Buczak said. “In the defense we let them have some easier opportunities, and it was a one-point game, so one of those might have made the difference.”

Princeton built a lead and was able to hold on against UNCG (1-10) on Saturday, hitting late free throws to upend the Spartans 65-55.

The Tigers led for the final 38 minutes of the game and even managed to get ahead by 15 points in the first half, but a late surge by visiting UNCG kept home fans on the edge of their seats. Though Princeton led 45-33 with just 11:39 left in the second half, the Spartans rallied back, holding the Tigers to one field goal and cutting the deficit to five points in the next six minutes. Leading UNCG’s offense was Mikko Koivisto, who scored two free throws to inch his team within three points of Princeton with 1:08 left on the clock. But Koivisto’s hot streak ended when he fouled Mavraides, who found the bottom of the net in both free-throw attempts to secure the win for the Tigers.

“I would say that those plays down the stretch that we haven’t made in the past we made in this game,” Lake said. “We played good defense for the whole 40 minutes, and that’s what kept us in the lead. In most of the games we’ve lost there has been a lapse for however long that has lost us our game, but against UNC we finally put it together.”