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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
South Carolina
Players Mentioned
Half-Ending Blitz Leads South Carolina to 84-58 Win over Men's Hoops
December 02, 2008 | Men's Basketball
PRINCETON -- South Carolina shut out the Princeton men's basketball team for a stretch of more than seven minutes bridging halftime and never trailed again, defeating the Tigers 84-58 Tuesday night at Jadwin Gym.
It was just the second time in program history that a Southeastern Conference team had paid a visit to campus, and South Carolina followed Vanderbilt's lead of 23 years ago in taking a win from Princeton on its home floor. The Tigers fell to 0-3 at home on the season and 2-3 overall.
South Carolina built up an eight-point lead at 19-11 with 12:38 before the break on a three-pointer by Evaldas Baniulis, one of four Gamecocks in double-figures, before Princeton scored the next seven points. Thanks to a Zach Finley bucket at the 5:53 mark of the opening half, Princeton held its first lead of the game. It lasted only 16 seconds, however, and South Carolina answered with a 17-0 run.
"We went through a woeful stretch there and obviously they're playing faster and they just kind of overwhelmed us," said Princeton's Sydney Johnson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of men's basketball. "That was disappointing, but we'll bounce back."
Princeton never threatened after the break as South Carolina's lead dwindled only to 13 points at its low mark of the second half.
Dan Mavraides led Princeton in scoring for the first time in his career with 15 points, his most as a Tiger, while Doug Davis scored 13 points on 6 for 8 shooting to extend his career-starting streak of double-digit scoring games to five.
The Tigers will look to bring their record back to .500 Saturday at St. Bonaventure. Both of Princeton's wins this season have come on the road.