South Carolina has not been kind to the Tigers this year. After going 1–2 in the Myrtle Beach Invitational in November, Princeton (7–4 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) dropped another game in the Palmetto State, losing 69–63 to Furman (9–1, 0–0 Southern Conference) on Saturday.
Princeton Men’s Basketball did not respond to a request for comment.
Like many competitions this year, the Tigers found themselves in an early deficit. After the first six minutes of play, Princeton was losing 14–2 and shooting well below 30 percent from the field.
However, the team refused to stay down. With 11:27 to play in the half, a three from senior guard Blake Peters capped off a mini run that narrowed the gap to just five, with a score of 14–9.
The rest of the first half continued in this fashion, with Furman holding onto their lead and Princeton playing catch up. Luckily, the Orange and Black began to shoot the ball a bit better, and buckets from junior forward Caden Pierce, sophomore guard Dalen Davis, senior forward Philip Byriel, and sophomore guard Jackson Hicke helped close the gap.
Then with 3:11 on the clock, Davis drilled a jumper to make it a one score game, 32–29.
Despite the close game, inconsistency, which has plagued the Tigers throughout plenty of matchups this season, reared its ugly head. The Paladins, led by a strong offensive performance from senior PJay Smith Jr., were able to hold the Tigers scoreless for the final three minutes while going on a run of their own, taking a commanding 37–29 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Princeton looked a lot more cohesive as a unit. Slowly but surely, the Tigers worked their way back into the game. Davis hit a strong layup 90 seconds into the half, then nailed a triple a few minutes later, making it 40–36.
Junior guard Xaivian Lee, who had been quiet on offense in the first half, began to hit his offensive stride. The star player knocked down a pair of free throws before hitting a rapid dribble move into a step-back three. With that bucket, Princeton was down only one point less than five minutes into the half.
Then, Lee swung the ball to Davis who immediately found first year forward Malik Abdullahi under the hoop for the score, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game, 43–42.
After another bucket from Lee and an offensive rebound into a score for first-year guard Peyton Seals, Princeton was leading Furman 47–42, capping off a 18–2 run.
It was as though a different team had come out of the locker room. Despite the rough showing in the first half, Princeton was now shooting around 70 percent six minutes into the second half. Like many games this season, it appeared as though Princeton was going to yet again overcome a slow start and take control of the game.
But the Paladins weren’t done. With eight minutes left in the game, they tied it up at 54–54. Both teams continued to exchange blows, and with just 45 seconds left, Princeton was down by three. Unfortunately, the Tigers couldn’t get a three to fall, losing their fourth game of the season.
Princeton faces the Monmouth Hawks (1–9, 0–0 Coastal Athletic Association) in Jadwin on Tuesday.
Doug Schwartz is a Sports contributor and a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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