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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Iona
Players Mentioned
Tigers Drive By Iona, 57-46, For Eighth Win Of Season
December 30, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Good defense and three-point shooting have carried the Princeton men's basketball team throughout the early portion of its 2006-07 season. Saturday at Iona, the Tigers used the same formula to earn a win heading into the New Year.
Justin Conway led Princeton with 16 points and hit two of his team's 10 three-pointers and the Tigers never led by fewer than seven points in the second half on the way to a 57-46 win over the Gaels in front of 2,012 at the Hynes Center.
Princeton (8-4), which made 12 three-pointers in its last game at South Carolina ten days ago, was hot again from three-point range, making 10 of 22 three-pointers for the game and five of its seven three-point attempts in the second half. Two three-point shots from Kyle Koncz and another from Noah Savage in the final seconds of the first half turned a tight game into a 32-20 Princeton advantage at halftime, and another three from Luke Owings gave the Tigers their biggest lead, 35-20, 20 seconds into the second half.
Iona (0-11), the only remaining winless team in NCAA Division I, was led by Anthony Bruin's 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Gaels shot just 36% for the game and had 15 turnovers.
The Tigers had 13 steals, including four from Conway and three from Edwin Buffmire.
"It always good to get a win on the road," said Conway, who shot 6 for 9 from the field and also had two assists in 33 minutes. "I thought we played well for most of the game and were able to get a nice lead to work with."
"Our defense was good and we were able to get open shots and make enough of them," said Joe Scott, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Princeton. "We're 8-4 with a nice home game before we get into the league season, so it's a pretty good position to be in right now."
Koncz made four three-point shots and added 12 points for Princeton despite playing just 20 minutes after picking up two fouls in the first 30 seconds of the game. Mike Strittmatter added 10 points for the Tigers, who improved to 5-0 all-time against Iona.
Iona led for much of the first 10 minutes of the game, but Strittmatter's three-point shot with 8:06 left in the first half gave Princeton a 16-13 lead and ignited a 13-3 Tiger run.
The Gaels cut their deficit to 40-32 with 11:45 left in the game, but a Conway three-point shot two minutes later stemmed the tide and put Princeton ahead again by double digits. Princeton then led 53-46 with 1:15 left, but the Tigers would make four foul shots in the final minute to put the game away.
Princeton held the Gaels to just 1 of 5 shooting from three-point range.
All nine Princeton players who saw time in the game scored at least one basket. Bruin was the only Iona player in double figures.
The Tigers host Rice next Saturday at Jadwin Gym at 2 p.m. The Owls feature senior guard Morris Almond, the nation's leading scorer averaging nearly 30 points per game.
NOTES
* The Tigers have made 31 three-point shots in their last three games. Princeton has shot 31 for 72 from behind the arc (43.1%) in those three games.
* Against Iona, Princeton made five of its seven three-point attempts in the second half but made just two of its 11 second-half shots from inside the three-point arc.
* Princeton has not lost consecutive games since falling to Cornell and Davidson in Jan. 2006, a string of 24 straight games without suffering consecutive losses.
* The Tigers are 3-1 on the road this season. In their three road wins, the Tigers have allowed 45 points (Manhattan), 42 points (Lafayette) and 46 points (Iona). Princeton will play five straight road games after hosting Rice next Saturday.