Big First-Half Run, Late Push Fuel 69-58 Princeton Win over Monmouth

Tuesday, December 12

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

3-6

Monmouth

3-8

Monmouth

Princeton

Myles Stephens led Princeton with 19 points in the 69-58 win over Monmouth Tuesday night.

Big First-Half Run, Late Push Fuel 69-58 Princeton Win over Monmouth

December 12, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The first six-plus minutes of Tuesday night's game against Monmouth didn't go the way the Princeton men's basketball team hoped, but things turned the Tigers' way in a 69-58 win in Jadwin Gym in the Princeton's final game on the East Coast for nearly a month.

Princeton started the game 1 of 9 from the field while Monmouth used a 5 of 7 start to fuel a 16-3 lead. That preceded a 25-4 Tiger run to build a 28-20 lead with four and a half minutes before the half, and despite Monmouth pulling within one at 52-51 with five-plus minutes to go, Princeton led the rest of the way. The Tigers ended up outshooting Monmouth 39.3 percent to 30.4 percent before the break and then upped that to 54.2 percent in the second half to outdo Monmouth's 47.6 percent.

Princeton's largest lead was 13 points, last at 47-34 with 13 and a half minutes to go. Monmouth then answered with a 10-0 run to pull within three at 47-44 with 10 minutes left and got it down to one as late as 57-56 with 3:17 to play, but Princeton never lost the lead. The Tigers scored the final nine points of the game to break open a 60-58 lead with 2:50 to go.

Myles Stephens led the Tigers with a game-high 19 points, one of three Princeton players in double figures along with Devin Cannady (18) and Amir Bell (11). Deion Hammond led Monmouth with 17 points and Diago Quinn added 11 while Micah Seaborn, Monmouth's scoring leader on the season at 16.9 points per game, finished with eight, all of which were scored during the Hawks' 16-3 run to start the game.

Princeton will head to California and Hawaii for a five-game trip with the first one set for Saturday at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET at Cal Poly, which is also heading west after a 67-53 loss at Bethune-Cookman Tuesday night. The Tigers will then be off until Ivy League play opens Jan. 5 at Penn before returning home to face Columbia Jan. 12.

Postgame Notes

• Princeton now leads the all-time series over Monmouth 12-5.

• Freshman Sebastian Much set season/career bests with five rebounds and five assists and tied his best with two 3-pointers.

• Rookie Ryan Schwieger had eight points and four steals to reset his Princeton best in each category, all in a career-high 23 minutes.

• Junior Myles Stephens tied his season best with eight rebounds and set a career high with five 3-pointers.

• Princeton's 13 3-pointers were a season high.

• Monmouth's .386 shooting clip broke a four-game run in which Princeton opponents shot better than 40 percent from the field. It was the second-lowest shooting percentage for a Princeton opponent this season, with Lafayette's .372 the lowest in a 60-46 Tiger win on Nov. 22.

• Monmouth's 20 turnovers were a season high for a Princeton opponent.