Men's Basketball: Darrow's clutch 3-pointer gives Tigers OT win

With eight seconds left in overtime and the the men's basketball team trailing Rider 71-69 on Wednesday night, the Tigers were forced to foul forward Daniel Stewart, who missed consecutive free throws. Junior forward Ian Hummer brought down the defensive rebound and passed to senior guard Doug Davis, who drove into the lane and kicked out to junior forward Mack Darrow. With time expiring, Darrow calmly buried a three-pointer, giving Princeton a thrilling 72-71 victory.

"I was kind of expecting Doug to be the hero like always," Darrow said in the post-game press conference. "I walked in to get a better look at his buzzer-beater, and it turns out I found one."

Wednesday night games have been good to the men’s basketball team this month. After a nail-biting win at Rutgers seven days ago, Princeton traveled south to visit Rider(1-10), which led the Tigers(5-6)by as many as 16 points in the first half. Despite a strong comeback from Princeton, the hosts forced overtime at the end of regulation with a three-pointer and then a free throw from forward Brandon Penn, tying the game at 65-65.

The Broncs led for almost the entire overtime period, opening up the extra frame with a layup from forward Junior Fortunat. Senior forward Patrick Saunders responded with a layup, but with two minutes left, guard Anthony Myles drove the lane, making the basket and drawing a foul to put Rider up 70-67.

The Tigers’ next play came up empty despite an offensive rebound and two free throws, but Princeton forced a turnover when the Broncs regained possession, which Hummer capitalized on with a jumper with 38 seconds left. Princeton fouled on the ensuing possession, but guard Jonathon Thompson only made one of his free throws, and the Broncs led 71-69.

Hummer missed a potential game-tying shot on the Tigers’ subsequent trip up the floor, and Stewart brought down the defensive rebound with nine seconds left. Junior center Brendan Connolly gave his fifth foul, setting up an epic finish.

"It was a crazy game. They had free throws to win it and we had a shot to win it at the end," head coach Mitch Henderson’98 said. "We were very fortunate tonight, because Rider played very well."

Both teams traded baskets for most of the second half, with the Broncs' lead hovering between three and seven points until a putback by Hummer with seven minutes left in regulation. Two minutes later, Davis hit a three-pointer, cutting Rider’s lead to one point. That difference held until the 2:30 mark, when junior guard Jimmy Sherburne paid back Rider guard Eddie Mitchell for an earlier steal with a pick of his own. Sophomore guard T.J. Bray finished the fast break, and the Tigers took their first lead of the game, 61-60.

Bray fouled Thompson on the next play, leading to one point, but the sophomore hit a three on the next play, extending Princeton’s lead to 64-61 with 1:45 to go. The Tigers’ defense held firm on the next possession, denying Rider two second-chance opportunities, and with 34 seconds left in the game, Hummer made one of two free throws, seemingly icing the game at 65-61.

But Penn hit a three-pointer, cutting Princeton’s lead to one. Thompson saved the Broncs' hopes on the next play, stealing the ball from Davis, and after Penn made a free throw with 15 seconds left, the game was tied. Penn missed the second attempt, and with six seconds left, Davis attempted a jumper but missed. Myles’ desperation heave fell short, sending the game into overtime.

Despite trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, Princeton closed out the frame with a 9-0 run and only trailed by five points at halftime. The Tigers opened up the second period with a steal and two free throws from Hummer. On the next possession, Mitchell missed a jumper, but center Dera Nd-Ezuma grabbed an offensive rebound and made the basket. Senior forward Patrick Saunders hit a three for the Tigers on the next play, but Thompson responded with his own trey, setting the tone for the back-and-forth nature of the second half.

Five minutes into the second half, Mitchell robbed Sherburne and ran down the floor for a layup, but Connolly slammed down a dunk on Princeton's next possession. The score stood at 47-42, beginning a series of back-and-forth possessions where Rider could not pull away.

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

Bray and Hummer played more than 40 minutes apiece. Hummer finished with a game-high 21 points, though he took 19 shots and made only five of 10 free throws.

The Broncs raced out to a 9-2 lead at the start of the game, starting with a layup by Stewart on the first possession. Stewart drove much of the early offense for Rider, contributing three free throws and two layups from the post. Davis and freshman forward Denton Koon responded for the Tigers, and after a Davis three and a putback by Koon, Princeton only trailed by three at 14-11.

The Broncs shot out after a media timeout, with Myles connecting on two outside shots before Rider forced two consecutive turnovers. Guard Jeff Jones capitalized on both those turnovers, hitting a jumper and a layup on back-to-back possessions.

Minutes later, Rider went on an 8-0 run, capped by Thompson’s three-pointer with five minutes left in the half. Princeton began to chip away at the lead, but a Myles dunk at the three-minute mark brought the score to 38-24.

The Tigers then turned up the defensive pressure, and Princeton went on a 9-0 run to close out the half that included two successful threes from Bray, pulling within 38-33 at halftime.

Princeton continues its seven-game road trip on Sunday, traveling to Boston to face Northeastern.