Men's Hoops Team Holds Off Columbia Rally For 11th Straight Win

Saturday, February 11

Princeton, N.J.

6:00 PM

Princeton University

15-6, 8-0Ivy

Columbia

10-11, 4-4Ivy

Columbia

Princeton

Myles Stephens was one of three Tigers in double figures Saturday night against Columbia.

Men's Hoops Team Holds Off Columbia Rally For 11th Straight Win

February 11, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Though the Princeton men's basketball team led by 20 points early in the second half, Saturday night's end to the first go-round of Ivy League play against Columbia came down to the final possession.

Up two, Princeton turned the ball over with seven seconds to go, and after chipping time off the clock with their three fouls to give, the Tigers defended for the final three-plus seconds as the Lions' Jake Killingsworth's try at a game-winning 3-pointer was off the mark to preserve a 61-59 Princeton win.

Princeton's 20-point lead was at 46-26 after Princeton scored the first five points after the break. That followed a half in which Princeton shot 65 percent from the field and made 7 of 10 from 3-point range. After taking that 20-point advantage, however, the Tigers went 6 of 24 from the field the rest of the way.

Still, the Tigers led by 13 at 59-46 on a Myles Stephens bucket with five-plus minutes to go before the Lions closed the game on a 13-2 run. An Amir Bell bucket with just more than two minutes left put Princeton up seven, at 61-54, but Columbia's Luke Petrasek answered with a 3-pointer and the Lions' Mike Smith cut it to two with 80 seconds to go.

Princeton's next possession resulted in a shot clock violation, and although Stephens got the ball back on a Nate Hickman miss after Bell successfully defended Hickman right through to the rim, an errant pass resulted in the Tigers' final turnover of the night with 7.6 seconds left.

Steven Cook led the Tigers with 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3 as he passed two Tigers, including former teammate T.J. Bray '14, to move into 30th place on Princeton's all-time scoring list at 1,027 points. Stephens added 15 points and Devin Cannady chipped in 11. For Columbia, Smith led all scorers with 21 points as the only Lion in double figures.

Princeton, which completed a run of five games in nine days with five wins, will play again Friday at Yale at 8 p.m. as the Tigers begin a run of four in a row on the road.