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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Maryland-Baltimore County
Men's Hoops Enters Exam Break With Decisive Win Over UMBC
January 07, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2003
Final Stats
PRINCETON, N.J. - Junior Spencer Gloger scored 22 points to lead the Princeton men's basketball team to a 76-43 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) in front of 4,132 fans at Jadwin Gym Tuesday night. Ed Persia added 13 points in the win, Princeton's first at home this season, while Princeton quarterback Matt Verbit scored three points and grabbed a pair of rebounds in his basketball debut.
Eleven players scored for Princeton, including four in double-digits. Gloger recorded his team-best 20th straight game with at least 10 points by shooting 9 for 13 from the field, 4 for 6 from behind the arc, for 22 points. Persia was 5 for 6 from the field, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc. Ray Robins and Judson Wallace each scored 10 points apiece. As a team, Princeton shot 62.5% from the field (30 for 48), the second highest mark of the season behind a 64.7% performance against Lafayette. The Tigers shot a season-best 52.2% from three-point land (12 for 23), which was significantly helped by an 8-for-11 performance in the first half.
"It is good to go into the exam break with a nice win," said head coach John Thompson, referring to Princeton's 20-day break for finals. "It's good from the team's perspective. I like where we are right now."
Princeton overcame a slow start to take control of the game midway through the first half. A layup by Gloger gave Princeton its first lead of the game, a 9-8 advantage at the 13:32 mark. That shot would help ignite a 23-5 run that put Princeton in total control by the 7:00 mark of the first half. Gloger had 13 points by halftime and Princeton had a 41-21 lead.
UMBC never got any closer in the second half, as Princeton used its whole bench throughout the half. One of the highlights of the half came late, when Matt Verbit made his debut for the basketball team. Verbit, who started at quarterback for Princeton over the final four games of the season and led the Tigers to a pair of fourth-quarter comeback wins, grabbed a pair of rebounds and hit a well-defended three-pointer in the final minutes. Only four other Ivy Leaguers over the last 10 years have played for both the varsity football and basketball teams in the same year: Brown's James Perry (1997-98), Yale's Ken Marschner (1997-98), Columbia's Chris Tillotson (1997-98) and Dartmouth's Nick Murphy (1999-2000).
Princeton will return to Jadwin Gym on Jan. 27 to take on Ursinus at 7:30 p.m. That will be the Tigers' final nonleague game of the season. Princeton will open defense of its last two Ivy League championships on Jan. 31 at home against Harvard.