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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Army
Players Mentioned
Strong Second Half Lifts Men's Basketball to 55-43 Win at Army
November 23, 2008 | Men's Basketball
PRINCETON -- After two frustratingly close losses, the Princeton men's basketball team has its first win to start the new season as well as its first road victory in almost two years.
Doug Davis led the Tigers again in scoring with 19 points as Princeton used a solid second-half shooting and rebounding effort to earn a 55-43 win at Army Sunday.
"We knew what we wanted to do," said Davis, a freshman who has scored no fewer than 14 points in each of his first three games. "We knew our offense and we knew we could execute. Coach (Sydney Johnson) expects a lot of everybody. When you go in the game, you have to perform no matter who you are."
Davis was the only player for either team with double-digit scoring, going 8 for 11 from the field with two three-pointers. Sophomore Kareem Maddox almost joined him with nine points, getting five of those from the free-throw line.
Princeton came out of the half with a one-point deficit at 26-25 and went on a 17-4 run, which included Pawel Buczak's first career three-pointer. The junior had tried two this season, none last year and one as a freshman.
"It's a shot I practice a lot," Buczak said. "It was good to get one to go in a game. I don't remember exactly what the score was (at the time), but the bench was into it."
It gave Princeton a 37-28 lead that would grow to 51-35 at its largest. In the second half, Princeton was 10 for 21 from the field (47.6%) and outrebounded Army 20-11. Army hit just 6 of 25 field goals (24.0%) after the break.
The win breaks a 24-game losing streak away from Jadwin Gym and 21 on an opponent's home court. The last road win came Dec. 30, 2006 at Iona. Princeton's 12-point margin of victory was its largest since a 14-point win over Harvard on Feb. 2, 2008.
Coincidentally, while Princeton's last two road wins have come in the state of New York, the Tigers will play their next three road games here, the first coming Wednesday night at Fordham.