Men's Basketball: Maddox golden in 2-overtime victory

The more time senior forward and co-captain Kareem Maddox and the men’s basketball team have on the floor, the better they seem to play. In its third overtime game of the season, Princeton beat Tulsa 82-78 in the second extra period to win its fifth game in a row.

Maddox scored 31 points for the Tigers (7-3), beating his previous career high of 30 points in an overtime win against Siena College two weeks ago. He shot 10 of 13 from the field, made 10 of 12 free throws and chipped in six rebounds for one of his best all-around performances. He scored nine of the team’s 14 points in the second overtime period, including clinching free throws with a second left.

“I felt like we had some advantages there,” head coach Sydney Johnson ’97, speaking of Maddox, told GoPrincetonTigers.com. “Obviously they have great size and so they kept going in, but we had some advantages going our way too. We exploited [those advantages] and made some free throws down the stretch.”

The Tigers led 59-53 with two minutes left in regulation but allowed the Golden Hurricane (4-5) to score two consecutive three-pointers and tie up the game with 47 seconds left on the clock. The teams traded possessions in the final seconds of regulation play, but neither was able to score. Senior guard and co-captain Dan Mavraides, who scored 16 points throughout the game, missed a last-second chance on the final possession as time expired with the score locked at 59.

In the first overtime period, neither team was able to take control of the game. Two free throws from Mavraides gave the Tigers a three-point lead with a one-and-a-half minutes left, but Tulsa center Steven Idlet scored to trim the Princeton lead to 66-67. Junior guard Doug Davis then made one of two free throws to take a two-point lead. With 10 seconds left, Idlet was fouled and sunk two clutch shots from the line. Davis and sophomore center Brendan Connolly each missed last-second shots as the game went to its fourth period tied 68-68.

From there, Maddox took control. Tulsa took a quick three-point lead, but Maddox scored five straight for Princeton as the two teams traded points. Davis, though, made the biggest shot of the game with the Tigers down 78-77. His mid-range jumper with 14 seconds left gave Princeton a lead that it did not relinquish. Free throws from Maddox and freshman guard T.J. Bray finished the scoring and clinched the four-point win.

Playing at Tulsa, the Tigers faced a tough opponent in a hostile arena. The Golden Hurricane jumped out to an early lead, and Princeton appeared rattled in the first period. A layup by Tulsa guard Justin Hurtt, who led the Golden Hurricane with 25 points, gave his team a 23-14 advantage midway through the first half. That was the biggest lead of the game for either team in a closely fought struggle.

A quick barrage of points, capped by an unlikely three-pointer from Maddox, gave the Tigers their first lead of the game. Neither team was able to gain much separation in the second half, but sophomore forward Ian Hummer’s basket with six minutes left gave Princeton a six-point lead. Hummer finished with 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

That lead evaporated with less than two minutes to play on three-pointers from Hurtt and Tulsa forward Scottie Haralson. But in the end, the Tigers were able to walk away after 50 minutes of play with the win.

Princeton has now won five consecutive games, including the first two of a four-game road trip. It was also the third overtime win in as many overtime games for the Tigers, who previously beat Rutgers and Siena in extra time. Except for a blowout loss to top-ranked Duke, the Tigers’ losses have come by a combined three points and were both decided by one possession.

To continue its winning streak, Princeton will have to keep the clock running and hope for extra time. The Tigers may start out sloppy, but in overtime they have been unstoppable.