Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Brown
Huge Second Half Leads Princeton Past Brown 70-56
February 08, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2002
Final Stats
Providence, R.I. - Princeton used a 16-1 run to start the second half to blow open a close game and cruise past Brown 70-56 in front of a sell-out crowd of 2,850 at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Princeton held Earl Hunt, the Ivy League's leading scorer, without a second-half point after he had nine in the first half.
The Tigers made four three-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half to take command. Princeton shot 57.1% for the game.
The victory improved Princeton to 5-0 in the Ivy League and set up a showdown in New Haven Saturday night against Yale, who knocked off Penn 83-78 Friday night. Yale is now 6-1 in the Ivy League, while Penn is 2-3 and Brown 4-3.
Both Princeton and Brown shot well in the first half, which ended at 33-31 Princeton on Mike Bechtold's offensive rebound and putback at the buzzer. The Tigers went into the locker room shooting 56%, while Brown was at 58% for the first 20 minutes. The second half was another story. Ray Robins hit a three-pointer to start the half, and then Princeton really took the game away from the Bears from the outside. Mike Bechtold hit one from the corner as the shot clock expired to make it 39-31, and after a foul shot by Shaun Etheridge, Princeton had perhaps the biggest possession of the game.
Princeton had a pass tipped out of bounds with three seconds to go on the shot clock, but Kyle Wente's long three-pointer off the inbounds pass was no good. Bechtold picked up the long rebounds, though, and Princeton then ran 35 more seconds off the clock before Ahmed El-Nokali buried another three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 42-32 game.
Brown would get no closer the rest of the night, and Princeton would lead by as many as 22 at 63-41.
Robins led Princeton with 16 points, shooting 6 for 9 from the field and 3 for 6 from three-point range. Bechtold had 14 points and six rebounds, while El-Nokali had all 10 of his points in the second half to go with a career-high seven assists.
Konrad Wysocki had 10 points as the fourth Tiger in double figures, while Ed Persia and Kyle Wente had eight points each.