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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Monmouth
Players Mentioned
Men's Hoops Grinds Past Monmouth, 46-42 (Video Included)
December 17, 2009 | Men's Basketball
PRINCETON -- With the last three meetings between the Princeton men's basketball team and Monmouth having seen neither squad reach 60 points, a trend was set. That trend continued for at least another year Wednesday night, as the Tigers outlasted the Hawks, 46-42.
It wasn't quite the infamous 41-21 Princeton loss from four years ago against Monmouth, but those who were in Jadwin Gym that night may have had flashbacks when Dan Mavraides became the first Tiger other than Douglas Davis to score with two free throws to give Princeton a 12-11 lead. That came with 4:21 to play in the opening half.
With the scoring coming at the pace it was, Princeton's 33-23 lead with 8:19 to play looked like it might be insurmountable, but the Hawks chipped away. Two free throws from Travis Taylor, who led Monmouth with 17 points, cut the Princeton lead to three at 41-38 with 40 seconds left, but Princeton came away with the win when Whitney Coleman's three-point try to tie with 10 seconds left didn't fall.
Princeton (5-4) won despite shooting 30.4 percent for the game (14 for 46), a shade lower than Monmouth's 33.3 percent (15 for 45). Neither team was proficient from beyond the arc, with the Tigers holding Monmouth (3-8) without a three-pointer on 11 tries and Princeton making just four of 21.
Video: Sydney Johnson, Douglas Davis, Marcus Schroeder and Ian Hummer in the postgame press conference.
The last time Princeton won with a field goal percentage as low was on Nov. 27, 2004, a 40-38 win over Lafayette that saw Princeton make 10 of 34 for a 29.4 percent clip.
Davis was the engine for Princeton early, scoring the team's first 10 points to make up half of his 20-point total for the night. The sophomore shooting guard has now reached 20 points or more in three of the last four games.
Mavraides also reached double digits with 11 points, pushing Princeton's record to 5-1 when he scored 10-plus. The junior nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds, the same number as senior teammate Pawel Buczak. Nine boards marked a career best for Mavraides by one and missed matching a career best for Buczak, also by one.
With the win, Princeton ran its victory streak to three games, its longest since the seven-game run last season that pulled the Tigers from 2-8 to 9-8. This streak has turned the Tigers into an above-.500 team, and five games remain before the start of the Ivy League season at the end of January.
Princeton's next game will be at Maine Sunday at 2 p.m., marking Princeton's first trip to the Pine Tree State. The Black Bears also stand at 5-4 and won in overtime at Jadwin Gym last season, 58-55, in the teams' first meeting.