Llewellyn, Cannady Drop 22 Each as Tigers Rally to Beat Iona

Saturday, December 15

Atlantic City, N.J. (Boardwalk Hall)

11:30 AM

Princeton University

5-4

Iona

2-7

Iona

Princeton

A game after scoring 17 against St. John's, Jaelin Llewellyn bettered that against Iona, co-leading the team with a game-high 22 points.

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Llewellyn, Cannady Drop 22 Each as Tigers Rally to Beat Iona

December 15, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Princeton was up big early and up at the end, and that was all the Tigers needed to leave Atlantic City with an 85-81 win over Iona Saturday afternoon at Boardwalk Hall.

A game after scoring 17 points in his Tiger debut against St. John's at Madison Square Garden, Jaelin Llewellyn bettered that with 22 points and senior Devin Cannady joined him with 22 to share game-high honors.

"This is what we've seen and knew," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said of the rookie Llewellyn. "We missed him. We missed him bad for a while. He changes our whole dynamic. He changes our whole group."

Iona responded to Princeton taking its largest lead of the game, 13 points at 25-12 with six-and-a-half minutes before the break, by going on a 9-0 run that cut it to a four-point Princeton lead with more than three minutes before the break. Though the Tigers stopped that run with five quick points, Iona came right back and took the lead with a 10-0 run that gave the Gaels their first lead of the game at 31-30 headed for the half.

Iona took control with a 15-0, five-minute run to turn a 40-38 Tiger lead into the Gaels' largest lead of the game at 13 points still with 12-plus minutes to play. The Gaels were still up 11 when Princeton went on a 15-6 run to tie it at 68-68 with 4:28 to play, and from there, the game was never more than three points apart until the Tigers iced it with some late free throws.

The Tigers will head to Duke Tuesday for a 6 p.m. game on ESPN2. The Blue Devils, at 9-1 ranked No. 2 in the nation in the current AP and coaches, polls, have been off for first-semester files since their win over Yale on Dec. 8.

Check out highlights of our win over Iona today at the @Hoophall Boardwalk Classic in Atlantic City: pic.twitter.com/1anzEoW3fO
— Princeton Basketball (@Princeton_Hoops) December 15, 2018

Postgame Notes

• This was Princeton's first game in Boardwalk Hall, which opened in 1926.

• Myles Stephens scored 10 points to surpass Judson Wallace '05 (1,090) and tie Ted Manakas '73 (1,099) for 20th place on Princeton's all-time scoring list at 1,099. Chris Thomforde '69 is 19th at 1,122.

• Devin Cannady's 22 points moved him past Bob Scrabis '89 (1,365) for eighth on Princeton's scoring list, now at 1,373. Brian Earl '99 is seventh at 1,428.

• Cannady continued to chip away at the gap between his third-place spot on Princeton's career 3-pointers list and second place, held by Douglas Davis '12 at 276. Cannady will head to Duke with 253 career 3s.

• This was the first meeting between Princeton and Iona since Nov. 14, 2007, a 66-58 Tiger win in Jadwin. Princeton moved its all-time series lead to 7-0 over the Gaels.

• Rookie Drew Friberg hit three 3-pointers in the final eight minutes to have his highest-scoring game against a Division I opponent, with nine points, and his highest-scoring game since the season opener against DeSales, when he had 13.

Devin Cannady on Friberg, Llewellyn and Max Johns as freshmen:
"When we put Max in for defense, he's solid. Drew and Jaelin, they don't seem like freshmen out there. They're comfortable, they're playing their game, and I love the lift that they give us, Jaelin in the starting lineup and Drew off the bench."

Mitch Henderson on Drew Friberg:
"That's what we see every day in practice, and I was so proud of him to come into the game (and do that). ... He's going to be such a good player for us. ... I was complementing him. It was sort of a tense moment, and I said, 'Drew,' but I didn't say it very loud, and he shot out of a cannon to go check in, and that is what you want, someone who's just, like, give me a chance, so I love that."

• Jaelin Llewellyn's eight assists were the most for any Tiger since Amir Bell '18 had nine in the overtime win at USC last December. Bell had all nine of his helpers in that game in regulation. Llewellyn's eight assists were the most for a Princeton freshman under Mitch Henderson. The Princeton freshman single-game record for assists belongs to John Thompson III '88, who had 10 against UNC Charlotte in 1984.

• Princeton's 55 points in the second half were the team's most in a half against a Division I opponent since scoring 57 in the first half against Lafayette on Nov. 25, 2015.