On January 15th Mercer County Community College (9-13) lost 70-67 at Manor, the Blue Jays' first and only win this season.
10 days later the Vikings weren't going to let what transpired in Jenkintown happen again on their home floor.
Holding a four point lead five minutes into the first half, Mercer set out on a methodical, well-executed zone offense clinic as Manor (1-14) switched away from man.
It was the opposite of what transpired in the teams' first meeting, where MCCC's execution versus man-to-man forced Manor into a zone and the Vikings moved the ball well but did not make any of their open shots.
Seeing 2-3 defense, Mercer teased the Blue Jays with swift, precise perimeter passes but did not solely settle for outside jumpers, working the ball to a player overloading the defense at the free throw line or slipping inside on the baseline to mix the palette up with a layup.
A four point lead quickly became 21-12 and then rapidly 30-17 on an open three by Rodney Walters, one of six triples for Mercer in the first half.
"It is nice that we came back and played well," said head coach Howie Levy. "The ball really moved and our defense was good. It is what we're trying to get to. This is one of the few games where we have a little margin for error."
After rallying from down 17 to take the lead, Oregon State (8-10) didn't have enough left to withstand a final Oregon push. Tied at 48 the Ducks went on an 11-4 run.
Mercer (8-13) won their second straight, 70-54 over Devry. Rodney Walters' 22 led the way for the Vikings.
On the road, Denver (10-10) fell to Middle Tennessee. The Pioneers had 20 turnovers in the 59-49 defeat.
In a matchup between teams from Wisconsin and Chicagoland that's drawing a touch less attention than the one at Solider Field, Northwestern hosts the UW Badgers. The start time for this game was moved up in deference to the NFC Championship.
Some video of Princeton recruit Bobby Garbade from Seton CC's triumph over Norwich.
Keep your eye on a Michigan center who says he is hearing from Princeton.
Around the Ivy League: Masked man Tyler Bernardini scored as career high 27 as Penn (6-8 / 0-0) won their first Big 5 game in four years, 73-61 over St. Joe's. Harvard (13-3 / 2-0) dug themselves out of a 12 point second half hole against Dartmouth (4-12 / 0-2). A 23-2 run did the trick for the Crimson. Yale (9-7 / 2-0) completed their season sweep of Brown (7-9 / 0-2) with a 59-51 victory. Columbia (11-5 / 2-0) caught Cornell (4-12 / 0-2) with 14 minutes to go and held on for their fourth straight overall, 70-66 in Ithaca.
Richmond vs. UMass - 12:00 pm ET - Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
Devry vs. Mercer - 2:00 pm ET
Oregon vs. Oregon State - 6:00 pm ET - FSN
Denver vs. Middle Tennessee State - 8:00 pm ET
Brown vs. Yale - 2:00 pm ET
Dartmouth vs. Harvard - 2:00 pm ET
Columbia vs. Cornell - 4:30 pm ET - Time Warner Sports Central NY
St. Joe's vs. Penn - 7:00 pm ET - Comcast
A new career high for Princeton recruit Denton Koon at the C.W. Stessman Invitational.
Seton CC won their 11th straight. Future Tiger Bobby Garbade had 23 points in the victory.
Mercer (7-13) returned to the win column after a 62-43 win over Essex. Gary Carthan scored 14 for the Vikings.
Northwestern (12-5) kicked off a busy week with an 74-60 win over Michigan. John Shurna had his worst practice of the season on Monday, then scored 24 points on Tuesday.
The Princeton coaching staff has shown interest in a guard from Kansas.
11th & Washington writes that rooting for new Met Chris Young won't be hard.
Mercer (6-13) dropped their fourth straight, 70-67 versus Manor.
Jared Cunningham scored a career high 24 as Oregon State (8-9) held off USC, 80-76.
The seventh consecutive Denver (9-9) victory was a 79-70 overtime win over Florida International in front of a record home crowd. The Pioneers improved to 5-0 in the Sun Belt.
Princeton recruit Bobby Garbade shook off a fever for a huge game in Seton CC's victory over previously undefeated Norwich.
Desmond Hubert says his decision has come down to a pair of schools.
Around the Ivy League: Columbia (10-5 / 1-0) knocked off Cornell (4-11 / 0-1) in the conference opener for both teams, 79-75. Yale (8-7 / 1-0) held off Brown (6-8 / 0-1) on the road, 69-64. Harvard (12-3 / 1-0) topped George Washington, 67-62.
Georgetown vs. Rutgers - 12:00 pm ET - ESPNU
Northwestern vs. Michigan State - 1:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
MCCC vs. Manor - 3:00 pm ET
FIU vs. Denver - 6:30 pm ET - FSN Rocky Mountain
USC vs. Oregon State - 10:30 pm ET
Yale vs. Brown - 2:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. George Washington - 2:00 pm ET
Cornell vs. Columbia - 7:00 pm ET
A must-win this afternoon for Georgetown at Rutgers. Look for full coverage on the site later today.
Northwestern travels to East Lansing to close their season series with Michigan State.
Oregon State (7-9) rallied from 17 down to lead UCLA by two with under three minutes left. The Bruins then scored the game's last seven points as the Beavers missed a pair of free throws and consecutive backdoor layups for a 62-57 final.
Rhode Island nipped Richmond (13-4), pulling out a 78-74 decision.
Mercer (6-12) lost by three to Brookdale.
Rutgers coach Mike Rice doesn't think his team struggled defending the "Princeton" style. They struggled defending Dan Mavraides.
The Daily Princetonian is already previewing the Tigers' opening weekend of Ivy play.
Denver coach Joe Scott took part in an online Q&A yesterday that you can read an archive of.
The 2011 McDonald's All American nominees are out. Princeton recruits Denton Koon and Bobby Garbade are on the list.
It had been all but done since November, but yesterday it was made public that Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody had signed a two year extension with the Wildcats.
Ian Hummer represents Princeton in the 10th Ivy League Men's Basketball Weekly Release of the season.
Both Princeton and Harvard are "hot" according to ESPN's Mark Adams.
Fresh on the heels of my +/- number crunching, Ken Pomeroy has a treatise about why this stat is not a great tool for analysis.
Mercer (6-11) was outscored 25-5 in the final five minutes of a 68-50 loss at Borough of Manhattan.
Former Red Sox pitcher Dave Sisler who lettered in basketball at Princeton during the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons, passed away yesterday at the age of 79.
Georgetown coaches John Thompson III and Mike Brennan were among those in the stands at the Scholarship for Inner City Children Festival.
Your News Now has a video package from Bobby Garbade and Seton CC's ninth straight victory.
MCCC vs. Borough of Manhattan - 1:00 pm ET
Indiana vs. Northwestern - 7:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Princeton recruit Bobby Garbade had a big game in Seton CC's win over Owego.
Are you curious why the Tigers' Daniel Edwards wasn't suited up on Wednesday night at Jadwin?
Trailing by two points on the road in the final minute, Denver (8-9) closed out a 66-57 decision over Louisiana-Monroe with a three point shot, a steal and a breakaway layup, a steal and two free throws then a third steal and two more free throws. Thus concluded the Pioneers' first road sweep in conference play since January 2003.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (11-3 / 1-0) kicked off conference play with a 68-53 win at Dartmouth (4-10 / 0-1). Chris Wroblewski's career high 29 points carried Cornell (4-10) beyond Stony Brook. Yale (7-7) was one of three Ancient Eight schools to defeat a non-DI foe on Saturday. The Bulldogs bested Baruch, 85-57. Columbia (9-5) stopped a persistent Union squad, 64-59. An afternoon that began with a bus accident didn't get any better once Lyndon State arrived at Brown (6-7). The Bears led by 36 at the half and cruised to the 88-55 final.
West Virginia vs. Georgetown - 11:00 am ET - ESPN2
MCCC vs. CCRI - 2:00 pm ET
Denver vs. Louisiana-Monroe - 2:00 pm ET - Sun Belt Network
Richmond vs. LaSalle - 4:00 pm ET - CBS College Sports Regional
Oregon State vs. Washington - 6:30 pm ET - FSN Northwest
Stony Brook vs. Cornell - 2:00 pm ET
Baruch vs. Yale - 2:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. Dartmouth - 4:00 pm ET
Union (NY) vs. Columbia - 4:00 pm ET
Lyndon St. vs. Brown - 7:30 pm ET
Looking to find its rhythm after losing two out of three, Georgetown has an unusually early start versus West Virginia.
Mercer County starts the second half of their season today. The Vikings have been off since December 21st.
I checked in briefly with Ed Persia yesterday. The Cherokee Braves have a 5-2 record this season with Persia as their coach after winning six total games a year ago.
Today's Game:Princeton (8-3 / 0-0) vs. Towson (3-6 / 0-1) Location: Towson Center - Towson, MD Time: 4:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: This is the first meeting between the two schools. Last meeting: This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Princeton
Towson
3-0
Home Record
2-1
4-2
Away Record
1-5
1-1
Neutral Record
0-0
49
RPI
249
71
Sagarin
271
117
Pomeroy
249
72.0
Points / Game
73.7
69.4
Points Allowed / Game
76.1
.472
FG%
.442
.709
FT%
.710
.398
3PT FG%
.348
33.7
Rebounds / Game
39.1
9.1
Off. Rebounds / Game
12.6
+1.2
Rebounding Margin
+5.4
14.5
Assists / Game
12.4
14.2
Turnovers / Game
16.7
3.8
Blocks / Game
2.9
Hummer: 14.8
Points
Philmore: 14.2
Maddox, Hummer: 6.5
Rebounds
Dupree: 9.9
Maddox: 3.0
Assists
Morris: 3.7
Davis: 1.2
Steals
Philmore: 1.1
Maddox: 1.6
Blocks
Dupree: 1.0
Hummer: .596
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Dupree: .575
Mavraides: .800
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Polk: .793
Davis: .421
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3FGM)
Brown .400
Richmond vs. UNC Greensboro - 12:00 pm ET
UIC vs. Oregon State - 10:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. UConn - 7:00 pm ET - SNY
Penn vs. Delaware - 8:30 pm ET
Want to attend today's game FOR FREE? Print out this coupon! You're welcome.
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05
