.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Columbia
Players Mentioned
Men's Basketball Defeats Columbia 62-58
January 15, 2012 | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK -- Using a second-half surge and holding on late, the Princeton men's basketball team defeated Columbia 62-58 Saturday night in Manhattan.
Princeton trailed by six at the midway point of the second half but scored 11 straight points to take a 46-41 edge and never relinquished it. Missed free throws by the Tigers inside the final minute caused the win to be momentarily in doubt, but Princeton held on.
Princeton improved to 10-8 and 1-1 in the Ivy League, while Columbia fell to 11-7 overall and 0-2 in the conference after being swept by Penn and the Tigers. Penn (2-0), Harvard (1-0) and Yale (1-0) have yet to lose in Ivy play, while Princeton, Cornell (1-1), Brown (0-1) and Dartmouth (0-1) have one loss apiece.
"I was really proud of our guys tonight," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said. "I think our defense has been very solid, but we haven't been influencing the game and turning people over."
The Tigers succeeded in doing just that, forcing Columbia to commit 15 turnovers while giving up just six of their own.
Following a first half that saw six lead changes and the Lions take a one-point advantage into the locker room after Princeton shot 32 percent from the field, the Tigers found their shot. Making 10 of 18 field goals for a 55.6 percent clip, Princeton was able to outweigh Columbia's 36-22 advantage on the glass. Mark Cisco turned in a double-double effort for the Lions with 12 points and 10 boards, while Brian Barbour had a game-high 25 points including nine from the free-throw stripe.
The key 11-0 run began after a Barbour 3-pointer gave the Lions a 41-35 advantage with 11:11 to play. Five Tigers contributed to the game-changing stretch, just two of which were among the four to finish the game with double-figure points. T.J. Bray was one of those, finishing with a team-high 12 points to completent four rebounds, five assists with two turnovers, and six steals to double his previous career best in that category.
Ian Hummer, who added a bucket during that 11-0 run, finished with 11 points to stand at 967 for his career, while Mack Darrow and Douglas Davis, now with a program all-time seventh-best 1,357 points, had 10 each.
Following two-plus weeks off for finals, the Tigers will head to Philadelphia to resume Ivy League play at Penn on Jan. 30.