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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
James Madison
Players Mentioned
James Madison Eclipses Early Tiger Lead in 65-64 Win
November 23, 2010 | Men's Basketball
The Tigers were hot from the field in the first half, but missed their first 13 shots of the second in losing their first game of the O'Reilly Auto Parts College Basketball Experience Classic subregional at James Madison to the host Dukes, 65-64.
"We didn't execute well and we'll have to learn from it," Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson said.
Princeton (1-2) hit 17 of its first 24 shots in the game's opening 15-plus minutes to build a 20-point lead over the Dukes (2-1) before the home team hinted at a comeback just before the break.
A 9-2 James Madison run cut the Princeton lead to 13 at the half, and the intermission wouldn't stop the Dukes.
Ian Hummer's bucket at the midway point of the second half ended the 0-for-13 shooting drought and cut the Dukes' lead to 53-52.
In the interim 14 minutes, James Madison went on a 28-5 run.
"I don't think it caught us by surprise," Douglas Davis said of the James Madison run. "I just think that we made a lot of mistakes in the second half, some careless turnovers. We knew they were going to go on the run. We just had to finish strong in what we do."
Neither team led by more than four the rest of the way, and Princeton enjoyed its last lead at 64-63 inside the final minute.
A fifth-foul call on Dan Mavraides, who led Princeton in rebounding with seven, sent James Madison center Denzel Bowles to the line for a pair, and Bowles drained both to finish with 29 points alongside his 10 rebounds.
Since joining the team for the second semester last year after transferring from Texas A&M, Bowles has scored in double digits in every game.
"It tells you how good he is that we tried to do everything we could, and what a night for him," Johnson said. "I'm sure he's going to cause a lot of people problems this year."
Princeton had the last possession with 28 seconds left, but the Dukes never let the Tigers have a good look.
Princeton finished the second half 3 of 19 from the field while also missing some key free throws. After making 5 of 6 before the break, the Tigers missed 7 of 17 in the second half.
"We certainly didn't help our cause in terms of trying to come back," Johnson said. "There were a lot of times when we could have gotten two points and we left points on the line, so to speak, and we made it that much harder for ourselves."
Bowles' 29 points was the most for any Princeton opponent since Chris Smith, then of Manhattan, scored 35 in a win over the Tigers on Dec. 14, 2008. Davis led Princeton with 18 points, while Hummer added 12. Mavraides' seven rebounds contributed to a 36-29 edge in that category, but the Tigers gave some of that back by turning the ball over 13 times to eight for the Dukes.
The Tigers will have a short wait for a chance to get back on the winning side, facing Bucknell, a 71-47 winner over Presbyterian earlier tonight, in a 4:30 p.m. game on James Madison's floor.