The Tigers (3–0 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) were back in action on Sunday afternoon against the Northeastern Huskies (1–1 overall, 0–0 Colonial), prevailing 79–76 in yet another tight matchup in the Tigers’ nascent season.
“We’ve been getting off to slow starts, but we’re gonna improve on that. I’m really proud of the way the team battled back and pulled out a win,” junior forward Caden Pierce wrote to The Daily Princetonian.
Sophomore guard Dalen Davis and senior guard Blake Peters led Princeton with career high performances, and eventually won out in the dying seconds at the Matthews Arena in Boston after a physical game against Duquesne.
The game started slowly for both sides as they took their time to get into the rhythm of the fixture. Some tough defense as well as several missed opportunities saw the Tigers take five minutes to get their first field goal.
After the first media timeout, the game opened up much more and the score settled at 11–10 in the Tigers’ favor after consecutive triples from Peters. The senior guard would end the night with his career-high 18 points all of which came from three-pointers on 6–8 shooting.
Slow starts have been characteristic of the Tigers offense this season, but powered by a surge from Davis, Princeton went on a 12–0 run in the middle of the half. Two three-point jumpers and a layup gave him eight points in this stretch assisted by junior guard Xaivian Lee and Pierce.
With 4:39 left in the first half and the score 25–16 in Princeton’s favor, the Huskies began to close this deficit as the Tigers struggled on defense in the paint. Northeastern would end the game with 48 of their 76 points from the paint with Princeton scoring just 30 of their 79 from the same position.
The teams mostly traded points as the seconds fell away in the half. Lee slashed to the basket with 12 seconds left, but was blocked by a Huskie big. The ball ended up with Davis, who nearly made another triple off the rebound but glanced off the rim just shy of the basket.
The Tigers walked into the locker room up 35–30 and with the game’s momentum in their favor.
The Huskies seized the initiative in the second half and came out hot. Immediately they went on a 9–2 run, cutting the Princeton lead and giving them a narrow lead of their own with 17:50 left to play.
Davis, continuing his stellar performance during the game, would go on to score Princeton’s next eight points, however, as the Tigers evened out the score 45–45 after six minutes of second-half action.
Northeastern scored some quick points to go up 50–45 with 12:38 to go, but the Tigers kept it tight with key points from the ever-reliable Pierce as well as first-year forward Malik Abdullahi. With 7:43 to go, a Pierce free throw ensured they were down by just a point, 57–58.
Pierce, coming off his Ivy League Player of the Year campaign last year, ended the night on 10 points, 11 rebounds, and a steal as he remained a consistent and vital asset to this Princeton squad. Pierce anchored the defense, holding his own down in the post on defense and retrieving countless rebounds, and remained a constant threat on offense with his finishing abilities.
The Huskies went on a 7–1 run to tie their largest lead of the game at 65–58, but once again, two more clutch triples by Peters cut that lead down quickly. From three, the Tigers shot 10–26 for 38.5 percent production, a downturn from their prior game against Duquesne where they were shooting 45.8 percent from deep.
With Princeton down 66–70, Davis went on a run of his own, scoring five successive points and hitting all of his free throws to give Princeton a narrow edge 71–70. As a team, the Tigers scored 77.3 percent of their free throws — a vast improvement from their last two games where they shot underwhelming 62.1 percent and 50 percent from the charity line respectively.
“[Davis] put the team on his back towards the end and it wasn’t just scoring. He made some really good passes as well and that’s huge for his confidence and for the team as a whole,” wrote Pierce to the ‘Prince.’
For the last few minutes the Tigers and Huskies battled it out on the court. With 27 seconds left in a frantic game, Peters hit his final triple of the night from the corner to put the Tigers up by one.
The Huskies once again took the lead by one following a layup, but in the final 12 seconds of the game it was Abdullahi who scored all four of Princeton’s points with a layup and two free throws to take the win.
Abdullahi received the most minutes off the bench and shot 3–3 on field goals ending with eight points — adding to his reliable string of bench production. He gave the Princeton faithful a taste of the potential impact of the Tigers’ impressive first-year recruiting class.
The Tigers left it late but they managed to take back the lead in the crucial moments of the game following a shakier second-half performance.
Princeton faces off against the Loyola Ramblers (3–0, 0–0 Atlantic 10) on Friday night at Jadwin Gym in a matchup the Tigers should win, according to ESPN analytics. After a solid 3–0 start, Princeton will be wanting to have a more comfortable victory to take them to 4–0 for the season.
“We have some tough matchups coming up, Loyola Chicago is always very good. We head back to Boston and then to Myrtle Beach so a lot of fun and exciting games, but also a lot of challenging games,” said Pierce. “We shouldn't get off to slow starts anymore.”
Alex Beverton-Smith is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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