.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Lafayette
December 07, 2009 | Men's Basketball
In Princeton's 62-48 win, the Tigers had their best offensive performance by most measures since the season-opening victory at Central Michigan three weeks ago. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak overall and was Princeton's first win over its annual non-league rival from Easton, Pa., since Nov. 28, 2006.
Princeton's 40 second-half points were nearly more than both teams combined to score before the break, when Lafayette (4-5) carried a 24-22 lead into the intermission. The 14-point win was Princeton's (3-4) largest margin of victory in the series since Will Venable's 23 points led the team to an 89-75 win on Dec. 7, 2002.
Video: Head coach Sydney Johnson, Patrick Saunders, Douglas Davis and Dan Mavraides in the postgame press conference.
Two buckets and a three-pointer by Douglas Davis, who led Princeton with a game-high 23 points, fired up a 7-0 run that turned a 45-41 Princeton lead into an 11-point advantage with 4:24 to play. The Tigers rode that cushion to the finish, with Saunders' three-pointer inside the final minute giving the team its biggest and final lead.
Princeton also enjoyed its largest rebounding edge of the season while breaking a three-game streak of ending up on the short side of that category. Dan Mavraides' game-high eight rebounds, along with boards from eight of the other nine players to enter the game, helped carry the Tigers to a plus-eight rebounding margin.
Davis' 23 points were just four off his career-high and gave him back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career. His 43 points scored in the last two games are his second-most in a two-game series after pouring in 45 combined against Manhattan (27) and Central Connnecticut State (18) last December.
It was also Davis who powered many of Princeton's 12 three-pointers, hitting 7 of 11 attempts to lead the Tigers to their most threes in two seasons since also putting in 12 in a loss at Cornell.
Patrick Saunders and Dan Mavraides joined the double-digit scoring category, with 15 and 13 points, respectively. It was Mavraides' first 10-plus game in two weeks, breaking a single-digit string of three games. Saunders, meanwhile, has embraced his newfound starting role, reaching double digits in all four games since being added to the lineup.
While the final margin was solidly in Princeton's favor, things didn't start out so smoothly. Lafayette outshot the Tigers 40.7 percent (11 of 27) to 31.8 percent (7 of 22) before the break, with Princeton turning it over 11 times. In the second half, Princeton committed just five turnovers.
Princeton's shooting warmed up to 62.5 percent (15 of 24) in the second half, allowing the Tigers to end with an advantage of almost 10 percentage points over Lafayette.
The Tigers will have no midweek game for the first time this season, resuming competition next Sunday at UNC Greensboro.
