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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Lafayette
Venable, El-Nokali Lead Princeton Past Lafayette
December 21, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2001
Box Score
Ahmed El-Nokali and Will Venable combined to score 24 of their 36 points in the second half to rally Princeton past Lafayette 67-61 in front of 4,622 at Jadwin Gym.
The victory improved Princeton to 3-6 and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Leopards, who fell to 5-5.
Princeton rebounded from an 0 for 10 three-point shooting performance in the first half to shoot a blistering 16 for 22 as a team in the second half, including 6 for 9 from three-point range.
"I didn't realize that we hadn't made a three-pointer in the first half," said Princeton coach John Thompson. "They really spread their zone out. We made it a point to get the ball into the middle." The Tigers, who have played the 11th toughest schedule in Division I according to the RPI rankings, missed their first two three-pointers of the second half and trailed 41-36 with 14 minutes to play. Judson Wallace then ended the skid, extending Princeton's streak of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 422 and cutting the deficit to two.
The Tigers took the lead at 48-47 with 7:58 to play on Mike Bechtold's three-pointer, but Lafayette answered on a layup by Mike Farrell to take what would prove to be the 'Pards last lead at 49-48. El-Nokali then hit a layup and a three-pointer to make it 53-49 with 6:43 to go, and Princeton would not trail again. Venable, who was 0 for 8 on the season from three-point range, then nailed his first with 1:47 to push the lead to seal it.
Venable, a freshman, had his third-straight double-figure game and his season-high of 18 points. He also added five rebounds and three assists and played all 20 minutes of the second half.
"It was good to get a win," Venable said. "It would have left a bad taste for the holiday to lose this one. We did the things we had to do down the stretch to win."
Princeton freshman center Dominick Martin had his first double figure game with 11 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. The Tigers, who shot 27 for 50 for the game and 21 for 31 on two-point shots, were without injured center Konrad Wysocki, last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year who missed the game with a foot injury.
Lafayette was led by Mike Farrell's 17 points and six rebounds and 13 points and five rebounds from Kuberka. The Leopards, one of the top three-point shooting teams in Division I, shot 5 for 25 from three-point range.
Princeton and Lafayette are both off until Dec. 29, when the Tigers are at Rutgers and the Leopards host Howard.