Men's Basketball: Tigers fade late in D.C.

As former men’s basketball coach John Thompson III ’88 looked on at last night’s game against George Washington, he could not have helped but notice the similarity between the on-court action and the game played over eight years ago, when he was coach.

Just like that game almost a decade ago, Princeton (2-2 overall) simply could not make shots, and it ultimately fell to the Colonials (5-0) by a score of 65-50. After losing to Army last weekend, Princeton traveled to the nation’s capitol to face off against an unexpectedly strong George Washington squad. Before the season began, the Colonials were picked to finish 13th out of the 14 teams in the Atlantic-10 Conference, but they have become what is arguably one of the best mid-major basketball teams in the country.

Part of their strength lies in the Colonials’ incredibly deep bench: Against the Tigers, George Washington played 12 players, each for a significant period of time. In last weekend’s game, it put all 15 players on the floor, including three walk-ons.

Though the end score was a 15-point margin, the game was actually closer than it appeared on paper. Until the end of the game, Princeton managed to stay relatively close to the Colonials, who led for the majority of play. Leading the Tigers’ charge was sophomore forward Patrick Saunders, who earned 12 points throughout the night despite playing for only half of the game.

Eager to get a win on the road after the devastatingly close loss to Army last weekend, Princeton came out of the gate running and got on the board with a quick lead. After junior guard Dan Mavraides grabbed the defensive rebound, the ball found its way into the hands of Saunders, who sunk a three-pointer to put the Tigers on the board first.

Senior guard and co-captain Marcus Schroeder sunk a jumper just more than a minute later, but Princeton proved incapable of continuing its early shooting success. Both teams traded points for the next few minutes, and though the Tigers were forced to sub out offensive powerhouse Saunders for the remainder of the half because of foul trouble, Princeton held onto a 12-8 lead.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, a three-pointer by George Washington cut the deficit to one point. This was the last time that Princeton held an advantage in the first half. The Colonials took advantage of the fact that the Tigers were shooting 24 percent from the field.

“In the game as a whole, we didn’t shoot the ball well at all,” Mavraides said. “It was worse in the first half, but in the game as a whole, we weren’t getting a lot of shots. We had a lot of open threes and open shots in the lane, and they just weren’t falling, which made it tough to stay in the game.”

Princeton also made only three of 14 three-pointers in the first half. And midway through the first half, the Colonials took control of the court. While Princeton continued to rim off balls, George Washington played consistent basketball, and it led by as much as 28-18 in the first half.

Two free throws by Mavraides were Princeton’s final points in the first stanza, as a red-hot Colonial squad went into the lockerroom with a decisive 28-21 lead.

George Washington looked invigorated after halftime. Using a variety of scorers, the Colonials extended their lead to 32-24. Down a game-high 11 points after two foul shots from the Colonials, the Tigers changed their strategy by subbing in Saunders. A one-man shooting machine, Saunders was on fire after he got subbed in with 11 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the second half.

Moments after Saunders was subbed in, he scored a three-pointer, quickly followed by a layup and a jumper, to bring the game to 45-38 in favor of the Colonials. The energy Saunders brought into the game seemed to rejuvenate the rest of his squad.

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“Pat played really well tonight,” Mavraides said. “He made a lot of shots and a lot of rebounds, and that definitely did provide a spark. There was a stretch there where we knocked down a lot of shots, and that got us back into the game.”

The two teams traded points for the next couple minutes, and the Tigers were down 49-44 at the 5:54 mark. After that initial comeback, Princeton’s offense slowed down, and the Tigers’ deficit grew to 15 points by the end of the second half.

Several factors led to the Tigers’ loss — including the fact that the Colonials are a very strong team — and the high number of second-chance points George Washington earned put the game away. The Colonials had 30 points off the bench to Princeton’s 11, a statistic that demonstrates the depth of George Washington’s squad.

The Tigers face off against California on Nov. 29, and if this game is any indication, Princeton will need to make some changes in its strategy to be successful in that game.

“It’s a tough loss. We came down here, and we thought we could win this game, just like the game against Army,” Mavraides said. “But we need to learn from both [losses] and take that when we go to Cal.”