Aririguzoh’s Clutch Free Throws Push Men’s Basketball Past Harvard

Saturday, February 1

Princeton, N.J.

6:00 PM

Princeton University

9-8, 4-0Ivy

Harvard

13-6, 2-2Ivy

Harvard

Princeton

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Aririguzoh’s Clutch Free Throws Push Men’s Basketball Past Harvard

February 01, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PRINCETON, N.J. – In a contest that truly went down to the wire and saw the Princeton University men's basketball team trail by a point with four seconds remaining, senior Richmond Aririguzoh calmly sank a pair of free throws that gave the Tigers the lead and ultimately the 70-69 victory over Harvard University Saturday night inside Jadwin Gymnasium.

The victory moved Princeton 4-0 in Ivy League play, marking it two-consecutive seasons the Tigers have gotten off to a 4-0 start in conference play.

Sophomore Ethan Wright led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a 4-of-5 effort from behind the three-point line while also adding four rebounds and three steals. Junior Ryan Schwieger added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists while junior Jerome Desrosiers contributed a season-high 11 points while going 3-of-3 from behind the three-point line. Aririguzoh also finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Tigers were red hot from three, going 13-of-23 for a percentage of .565.

?? After helping us move to 4-0 in @IvyLeague play with tonight's victory over Harvard, hear some thoughts from @TheRichEffect and @ewright3862!#MakeShots ???? pic.twitter.com/CCQuTxx6R5
— Princeton Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) February 2, 2020

While Harvard took an initial 5-4 lead, a three-pointer by Wright sparked a 6-0 run that also featured a three-point play by Schwieger that gave the Tigers a 10-6 advantage with 17:18 left in the half.

With the Tigers up 20-15, Schiweger found Morales open for a three-pointer that sparked an 11-0 run that included a layup by Llewellyn, another Morales triple along with a three-pointer that gave Princeton a 31-15 lead with 8:49 on the clock.

Harvard narrowed the deficit to four points at 31-27 with 2:50 remaining in the half by Aririguzoh dished it off to Llewellyn for a layup with 2:28 that helped keep Harvard at bay, 33-27. Freshman Tosan Evbuomwan emphatically rejected a driving layup by the Crimson prior to the halftime buzzer sounding and the Tigers took a 33-29 lead into halftime.

Wright scored Princeton's first basket of the second half on a layup with 19:53 on the clock and proceeded to dominate the half. He drained a three-pointer 14:45 on the clock then knocked down his fourth with 13:48 remaining that gave the Tigers a 48-38 advantage.

Desrosiers brought his total to nine points and gave Princeton a 61-42 advantage with 11:50 on the clock then cut back door and threw down a two-handed dunk to give the Tigers a 59-47 lead with 9:04 left to play.

Friberg sank the Tigers' 13^th three-pointer with 7:28 on the clock to give Princeton a 62-54 advantage then a Wright free throw helped keep Princeton in the lead with 3:35 left to play, 67-56.

The Crimson trimmed the lead to two points at 67-65 with 51 seconds on the clock then took a 69-68 advantage with 0:15 on the clock.

With 0:04 seconds left and the Tigers down one, Aririguzoh pulled down his own offensive rebound then went back up and was fouled. He would calmly sink both free throws, giving Princeton the 70-69 victory.

0:04 2nd | Princeton 70, Harvard 69@TheRichEffect calmly sinks a pair of free throws and we now lead Harvard by one!#MakeShots ???? pic.twitter.com/PEoaqsMX7N
— Princeton Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) February 2, 2020