Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Kareem Maddox & Douglas Davis:
Princeton did not trail for the final 37:25 of Wednesday night's game at Monmouth, but the last three minutes of the second half saw the Tigers barely hold off a frantic Hawks comeback that nearly rallied the home team into the win column from down 15.
The long arms of Kareem Maddox forced Monmouth's James Hett into a less-than-ideal double clutch three point attempt with three seconds left and this tying try came up harmlessly short and wide of the rim over the baseline.
In the box score it went down as the Tigers' 11th block of the game, equaling a school record, but possession was given to the Tigers, implying the shot was altered but not deflected.
Princeton escaped their trip to West Long Branch with a 64-61 victory.
The Tigers were 1-5 from the free throw line in the final 31 seconds of the second half, similar to their ugly 1-4 performance at the stripe in the final four seconds of the first half.
Douglas Davis was set up six times on the perimeter for three point shots, leading to a game-high 18. Maddox added 13 with nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks. A two-handed offensive board by Maddox with the lead down to two allowed Princeton to run 17 seconds off the clock before Dan Mavraides split a pair of late free throws.
Eight of Mavraides' 12 came in the game's first four minutes. Ian Hummer contributed 10 on 5-10 shooting. These five were the only five Princeton players to score.
"You see so many kids on our team making plays that helped us," said Tiger head coach Sydney Johnson. "I was glad to see that because it really was a team effort."
7'0" center Phil Wait had 12 points off the bench for Monmouth and Hett also went for 12.
The Hawks nabbed the game's first three points. Leading scorer Will Campbell's line drive in the lane hit square on the front of the iron and came back to him closer to the basket for a short floater. It was Campbell's only bucket of the game. Nick DelTufo added a free throw a minute later.
Mavraides pumped at the arc and stepped inside for a pure jumper in space. Hummer leapt high facing the paint to pick off a Ed Waite pass out to the perimeter and Hummer fed Mavraides on the go. Mavraides spun between two defenders as Mike Myers Keitt fell over trying to take a charge and the ball rolled down.
James Hett popped for a long two to even the score at five before Mavraides sprung to the right wing for a three pointer that ended his personal eight point spurt.
R.J. Rutledge answered from the left corner for the night's final tie, 8-8.
The Tigers' 15-2 run looked like it would give them the needed distance to push Monmouth aside.
A posting Kareem Maddox swung a pass to Patrick Saunders setting up for a three on the opposite side, Princeton's first non-Mavraides points.
Davis was able to target a trey over Myers Keitt's reach to double the lead.
Will Campbell missed for Monmouth and the ball ended up in Davis' hands. Maddox was ahead of the pack but a passing lane was slow to develop. Once a path for the ball to sail eventually appeared, Davis did not hesitate to throw the ball to Maddox as he turned to the rim and scored as Jordan Davis bumped him from behind.
Maddox found Davis a second time in transition for his second triple and Princeton was doubling Monmouth 20-10 at the 9:54 mark.
"Kareem's a heck of an inside player. Other teams know it and when he gets going, he draws a lot of attention," assessed Davis. "He did that tonight and I was able to get lost in the defense and find some spots where I can shoot."
Davis got lost in the defense a third time as Saunders on the wing found Mack Darrow inside to Davis in the right corner for a thirteen point lead.
Waite ended this run with a drive off the glass and a lob over Darrow to Wait made it 23-14.
Maddox spinning in the post flipped a nifty pass to Saunders coming over nearby for a quick righty hook.
Myers Keitt had too easy of a time answering with a slashing drive.
Mavraides was off on a jumper, but grabbed his own rebound and passed out to the opposite side where Davis was happy to connect on his fourth three pointer of the half.
It was 33-22 Tigers in the final two minutes when Princeton set up Maddox on the left elbow and he spun to the hoop, rising up and drawing contact from DelTufo. Maddox split a pair at the line with 1:34 to go.
Hummer closed on Campbell after he appeared to have a sure backdoor layup and blocked the ball while keeping it in play. At the other end of the very nice MAC, Hummer used a drop step to score off glass for a 36-22 edge.
Davis had a chance to make the lead 17 but his three came up short.
The shot clock off, DelTufo scored on a face up jumper. As the ball went through the hoop, Saunders and Waite were tied up. As the pair spun to face each other, Saunders gave Waite a two-handed shove, furious at something he felt Waite had done. One official signaled for a double technical, but after a discussion by the referees, this was changed to a technical on Waite for an elbow. A replay did not show Waite as having done anything wrong.
Mavraides made one of two technical free throws and Princeton retained possession. Off the inbounds Mavraides drifted to his left for a three point shot that was slightly off the mark. Maddox grabbed the rebound out of the air right before the horn and was fouled by Hett trying to follow. Surprisingly, Maddox missed both his tries and the Tigers left several points off the board for a 37-24 halftime edge.
Princeton shot 13-28 from the floor in the first half (46.4%), 6-15 from three (40.0%) and 5-9 at the line (55.6%), with three of those misses in the last four seconds. 18 of Princeton's 37 points came off of 10 Hawk turnovers.
Monmouth was 11-28 (39.3%) in the half, 1-7 from three (14.3%) and 1-2 on free throws (50.0%).
Davis' active hands created a steal in the post and Hummer soared above the fray for a left-handed hook when play resumed.
Waite had a putback over Mavraides' head that was offset by a second Hummer basket, as he held the ball a fraction of a second longer than usual to go around Wait with his right hand off the glass.
It was 44-29 Tigers with 13:38 remaining when Maddox was nearly triple-teamed in the lane and found Saunders on the opposite side for a three.
Coming into Wednesday's game the Hawks were shooting 28.1% as a team from three point range and that number sank lower with a 1-7 first half performance. Out of nowhere, Monmouth caught fire - starting with a Hett curl to the top of the arc and a shot that bounced high off the rim, in and then out and then again for three.
After both teams went cold the next three minutes, Wait spun at Darrow and was fouled, splitting a pair.
Maddox tried a free throw jumper, grabbed his own rebound, drove and saw his shot swatted out of bounds by Wait. On the inbounds a Mavriades three shook in and out again.
Rutledge connected from the left side and it was a 44-36 game.
Maddox went up strong at Wait and scored inside to take it back to 10 but Jordan Davis' step back jumper in the left corner drew Mavraides' contact and landed in the hole for the start of a four point play.
Clinging to a six point lead, Maddox found Davis behind a Darrow hedge screen on the left wing for three. Johnson immediately called time for Princeton.
Mavraides slapped the ball away from Hett from behind but could not connect from in front of the Princeton bench.
When Davis drove the right baseline and threw a low pass to Wait that the big man collected and went up with as Mavraides fouled him the lead was down to 49-43.
A pass by Maddox to Davis on the wing was not strong enough and caught Davis by surprise. Myers Keitt took advantage of the poor spacing, picked it up and was fouled rising to the rim. He split his pair at the line and the lead was five.
Some normalcy was restored when T.J. Bray drove from the left arc into the lane and passed with two hands to Saunders standing on the right wing for a three.
Myers Keitt read Bray's passing lane perfectly for an easy steal, which resulted in an equally easy layup.
Mavraides, who had not made a field goal since the game was in its infancy, faked a three with Jordan Davis coming out on him and slid to the free throw line for a long two, his only bucket of the half.
Waite was fouled by Saunders on a scoop and Hummer's block as the ball was going up was ruled a goaltend. One free throw later and it was a five point game.
Maddox drove left to set up Davis in the right corner for his sixth trey and Princeton had a 57-49 advantage at the 4:07 mark.
The seven footer Wait continued to clog the lane inside the Monmouth matchup zone, allowing Maddox to dribble inside the arc as he dared him to pull up for a midrange jumper. This strategy helped contain Maddox offensively, but he found other ways to contribute down the stretch.
After a wild shot by Myers Keitt went down, Maddox ducked around Wait and was fouled going to the glass. Both free throws were true for a 59-53 game.
Waite spun at Darrow for two.
Wait continued to dare Maddox to try a midrange jumper and Maddox' soft shot finally went down.
Davis launched over Mavraides for a three with 1:46 left to make it a one possession game for the first time since it was 11-8 Tigers.
Mavraides' ill-advised interior bounce pass to Maddox was cut off by Davis for Monmouth and at the other end Wait scored inside. 61-60 Tigers, 1:10 left. Princeton used a time out.
As play resumed Davis set up at the top of the circle, with Maddox screening on his left. Maddox took the ball up top and found Hummer on the left elbow, using his speed to race to the glass and score.
Davis was fouled by Maddox on a chaotic drive and made one of two free throws to pull within 63-61.
Facing full court pressure, Princeton went over the top to Maddox who lofted a lob pass to Hummer, trying to complete a two-on-one. Hummer's shot did not bounce in as Waite fouled him with :30.9 remaining.
Hummer's first try was well short and his second did similar, but the ball popped just high enough into the air that Maddox was able to leap beautifully and snag it with two hands.
"It was pretty tricky, because you don't want to get an offensive foul in that situation," said Maddox. "I just went straight up. It was a great bounce."
The Tigers were able to run 16 seconds off the clock before Monmouth was able to put Mavraides at the line for a one-and-one. The 86.7% shooter on the season connected on the first with :14.3 left but missed the second. Monmouth's chance to tie was obstructed by Maddox and while Mavraides missed one more free throw to ice the game in the final second, the Tigers had survived for their fourth straight win.
Notes:
-Princeton finished 23-53 (43.4%), 10-25 from three (40.0%) and a lousy 9-18 at the line (50.0%). Monmouth countered with 23-52 shooting (44.2%), 12-24 in the second half (50.0%). The Hawks were 6-15 from deep (40.0%), 5-8 in the second half (62.5%) and 9-15 on free throws (60.0%).
-Davis' five rebounds matched his career high.
-Princeton took three charges against Monmouth, two by Saunders and one by Hummer. Saunders' second charge was a clever move where he broke off from being engaged by Wait in the post to slide to the baseline and cut off a driving Waite.
-Campbell played 13 minutes in the first half but did not see the floor in the second half.
-To answer the question asked to me during Wednesday's game: Princeton is shooting 126-251 from the floor in the first half this season (50.2%), 90-211 from the floor in the second half (42.3%) and 5-7 in overtime (71.4%).
