Men's Basketball: Cagers squander 13-point lead after first half in loss to JMU

It looks like the men's basketball team is not ready to dominate the Ivy League yet. The Tigers (1-2 overall) continued play in the College Basketball Experience Classic on Monday night, losing a heartbreaker to James Madison University (2-1) 65-64 in Harrisonburg, Va. It seemed as if Princeton would cruise to a blowout victory after jumping out to a 15-4 lead five minutes into the game. The Tigers were hitting shot after shot, and James Madison had no answer to their high-paced offense. Princeton led by as much as 20 in the first half and went into halftime leading 47-34 on 18-29 shooting from the field.

The contest became a story of two halves, however, as the Dukes came out of halftime with a newfound defensive intensity. The added pressure cooled off the Tigers and kept them from scoring for the first 10 minutes of the half, during which the team missed 13 shots from the floor. James Madison took advantage of many forced turnovers to start the half on a 19-3 run and take 53-50 lead. The Dukes were led by forward Denzel Bowles, a likely future NBA lottery pick, who proved to be too physical and overpowering for the Tigers’ defense. Bowles finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

The Tigers knew the Dukes would come out playing stronger in the second half.

“I don't think it caught us by surprise,” junior guard Doug Davis told GoPrincetonTigers.com, the official website for Princeton athletics, after the game. “I just think that we made a lot of mistakes in the second half, some careless turnovers. We knew they were going to go on the run. We just had to finish strong in what we do.”

Princeton was eventually able to settle down and regain some offensive composure. Sophomore forward Ian Hummer stopped the field-goal drought with a driving layup to bring the Tigers within one. He followed with a big play on the other side of the floor by stealing the ball from guard Devon Moore and taking it to the hoop, where he was fouled by forward Andrey Semenov. Hummer hit both of his free throws to recapture the lead for the Tigers 54-53.

Princeton didn’t lead for long, however, as James Madison guard Humpty Hitchens knocked down a three-pointer to go ahead 56-54 with 9 minutes, 26 seconds remaining.

Both teams traded baskets for the next few minutes until Hummer got fouled with 1:23 remaining. Hummer made his first free throw and missed his second, but senior forward and tri-captain Kareem Maddox brought down a clutch offensive rebound. Maddox dished the ball out to an open Davis in the corner, who knocked down a three-pointer to put the Tigers up 64-63 with 47 seconds remaining in the game.

The Dukes would not concede, as Bowles drew a foul from senior guard and tri-captain Dan Mavraides, ending Mavraides’ night with his fifth foul. Bowles calmly made both free throws to put James Madison up by one.

With 24.8 seconds left, Princeton controlled its destiny. The Tigers inbounded the ball but nothing developed. James Madison’s aggressive man-to-man defense prevented the Tigers from getting a shot off, ending Princeton's night in heartbreak.

As was the case with the previous two games of the season, turnovers plagued the Tigers in the second half. Princeton committed eight turnovers in the second half compared to the Dukes’ three. Additionally, the Tigers were not strong from the line, making 15 of 23, whereas James Madison made 13 of 16. While Princeton shot a remarkable 62.1 percent from the field in the first half, the Tigers made a dismal 15.8 percent of their shots from the floor in the second half. Princeton has shown that it can start out a game strongly but clearly struggles with consistency.

The Tigers look to put this tough loss behind them and focus on their next game in the College

“We think this is really representative of what Ivy League [play] is going be like,” Maddox told The Daily Princetonian. “No matter what happens one night, you just got to bounce back and get your mind focused for the next day. That’s going dictate what kind of team you are — how you’re going to bounce back and set your mind to the next [game] and be successful after a tough night. We’re going to start thinking about tomorrow starting now, because we can’t be held back by frustrations and by this loss.”