.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Pummel Bears With Three-Point Barrage
January 27, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan 27, 2003
Box Score
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) - Will Venable scored 17 points and Princeton set a school record with 20 3-pointers in a 99-56 win over Ursinus Monday night.
Princeton (6-7), playing for the first time since a 76-43 win over UMBC on Jan. 7, shot 66 percent (35-for-53) from the field and 67 percent (20-of-30) from 3-point range against the Division III Bears, who dropped to 10-6.
Nine players made 3-pointers for Princeton, which broke its previous record of 17 3-pointers set against Yale in an 81-51 win on Feb. 14, 1997. The 20 3-pointers was also a record for an Ivy League team.
The 99 points was the most Princeton had scored since a 99-68 win against Rutgers in the first game of the 1971-72 season. The Tigers last scored 100 points in a game in a 108-64 win against Yale in 1971.
Four other Princeton players scored in double figures Monday, led by Spencer Gloger and Ray Robins with 15 each. The Tigers also set a school record with 31 assists, breaking the record of 27 set in a 70-59 win over Brown on Feb. 28, 1976. Sophomore center Mike Stephens had a career-high 10 assists.
Ursinus was led by Steve Erfle with 16 points.
Princeton took a 53-35 lead at halftime and quickly extended it to 69-38 with a little more than 15 minutes remaining in the game. Ursinus got no closer than 29 the rest of the game.
Princeton showed few signs of rust from the 20-day break in the first half. Given plenty of room on the perimeter by the Bears, the Tigers shot 11-for-16 (69 percent) from 3-point range. Overall, they shot 19-for-26 (73 percent), led by Venable, who made five of his six shots, including all three 3-pointers.
In one stretch in the final minutes of the half, Princeton made 10 consecutive shots, and finished the half making 11 of their last 12.
Princeton has played a Division III school at the end of its three-week exams break for the last 18 years, and is 18-0 in those games with an average margin of victory of more than 40 points.