Men's Basketball: Defense, strong second half propel Tigers over Lions

NEW YORK — With nine minutes left of play in its second Ivy League game, the men’s basketball team had its back to the wall. The Tigers were down six on the road, Columbia had the ball and star junior forward Ian Hummer was on his way to the bench with a fourth foul.

A team that had relied on its top two players for most of the season needed the rest of its roster to step up — and the other Tigers did exactly that. Nine players contributed significantly down the stretch as Princeton (10-8 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) took command with an 11-0 run and held on for a 62-58 victory over Columbia (11-7, 0-2) on Saturday, keeping its hopes of a second straight Ivy League title alive.

Hummer and senior guard Doug Davis — who suffered from back cramps throughout the game — combined for only 54 minutes of playing time, well below their season average. Sophomore guard T.J. Bray led the team in scoring for the first time all year, scoring 12 points and adding five assists, while junior forward Mack Darrow added an efficient 10 points.

Columbia guard Brian Barbour hit a three-pointer near the midpoint of the second half to give the hosts a 41-35 advantage, a score that stood for almost two full minutes. But after Hummer — who had a forgettable game, often looking frustrated and making only three of 10 field goal attempts — received his fourth foul, the tide surprisingly turned in Princeton’s direction. Davis stole the ball from forward Alex Rosenberg and then recorded two assists, one to junior guard Jimmy Sherburne and one to senior forward Patrick Saunders for a key three-pointer, cutting the deficit to one point.

After Hummer tied the game with a free throw, Bray continued an excellent weekend with two big plays. After stealing a pass near the baseline, the sophomore lofted a full-court pass to sophomore guard Ben Hazel, who caught it in stride and converted the go-ahead layup, giving Princeton its first lead of the second half. Moments later, Bray took a feed from Sherburne in the corner and let it fly, connecting on a three-pointer to complete the run and give Princeton a 46-41 advantage.

Bray recorded six steals, helping the Tigers take a 15-6 advantage in turnovers, while Hazel and Sherburne provided stellar defensive play off of the bench. Barbour scored a game-high 25 points, but he was hardly a factor in the deciding minutes thanks to Sherburne’s defense.

“Don’t let him catch the ball,” head coach Mitch Henderson ’98 said, describing his team’s strategy in the second half. “Jimmy did a great job of that.”

“We played really well in the second half,” Bray added. “Jimmy was unbelievable on Barbour, who’s a very good player.”

Several miscues in the final minute allowed Columbia back into the game. Freshman forward Denton Koon fouled guard Steve Egee on a three-point attempt, and Davis uncharacteristically missed three of four free throws. Meanwhile, Columbia’s aggressive guards took advantage of a softer defense to slowly reduce the deficit.

But with four seconds on the clock and a two-point advantage, Davis calmly made two foul shots to ice the game.

“You want seniors on the line shooting free throws, especially on the road,” Henderson said. “They’ve been there, and they have to do it.”

Henderson aggressively subbed players in and out in the final four minutes according to the situation, taking advantage of his players’ diverse talents and a full set of timeouts to earn his first Ivy League victory as a head coach.

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It was a victory the Tigers sorely needed after dropping their conference opener 67-59 at Cornell (6-10, 1-1) on Friday. The defeat was Princeton’s first loss in an Ivy League opener since 2007 and the fifth in its last six games in the Big Red’s Newman Arena.

Neither team led by more than four points in a tight first half, which ended with the Tigers leading 29-28. But after Koon tied the game at 40-40 midway through the second period, the Big Red took over with a game-changing 8-0 run that spanned less than two minutes, including consecutive layups from rookie Galal Cancer. Though the hosts’ lead never reached double digits, Princeton never pulled within one possession for the rest of the game.

Davis led the visitors with 16 points, but he needed 22 shots to get there, making only two of 11 three-point attempts. The Tigers shot only 36 percent from the floor, their second-worst mark of the season and committed 13 turnovers to Cornell’s six.

None of the Tigers has ever been in the position they are now — trailing in the Ivy League after the first weekend of conference play. After two weeks of rest, Princeton will visit current league leader Penn, which swept Cornell and Columbia on the road.