Derek Williams scored 22 points and made seven free throws in the final two minutes as Mercer (18-12) held off a frantic Essex rally to advance to the semifinals of the Region XIX tournament.
"That was a terrific effort," said Vikings coach Howie Levy following the 70-64 victory. "The last two days of practice were major battles between me and my team after that Harcum game. There is a way that they had to play to be successful and they did it and they were able to overcome a couple of mistakes."
Mercer trailed only once, at 7-6, and proceeded to score the game's next nine points as they opened up early advantages of 16-6 and 25-8.
"We never gave back the lead," Levy said with pride. "We really hung in there. I loved the way they shared the ball tonight."
The visiting Wolverines responded with a 13-1 spurt of their own to close within five, but every time Essex reached striking distance, Mercer found room to breathe.
Leading by five at the break, the Vikings scored the first nine points of the second half. Williams hit from the left corner to make it a 10 point game and Williams' penetration freed Quentin Lofton up top for a 42-29 advantage.
Back-to-back three pointers from Essex guard Saladine Collins drew the Wolverines within 65-64 in the final minute and Collins immediately stole a pass in the backcourt as Essex pressed and drove for a layup that would have put his team back in front. The shot was short off the rim and Williams was fouled, making one of two free throws.
Jahmal Scarborough carried the ball trying to split two defenders as he spun inside and Williams went back at the line, extending the Mercer lead to four.
Uros Kovacevic added 16 points, six rebounds and five rebounds. Isiah Andrews had 17 points and five boards for Mercer.
"There's more basketball left to play," Levy remarked. Last year at this time the Vikings' season was over following a bitter one point first round Region XIX tournament loss to Manor.
Now Mercer travels to Scranton, PA on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm ET, where they will play Del Tech Stanton.
"There's more improvements these guys can make," Levy said with a smile. "We're happy."
All shots of the Princeton band from Friday's ESPNU broadcast. Teases some of the atmosphere at Jadwin Gym as the Tigers beat Yale by a comfortable margin.
Georgetown vs. Louisville - 7:00 pm ET - ESPN2
Essex vs. Mercer - 7:30 pm ET - Region XIX Playoffs
Hitting 20 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time earned Dan Mavraides a spot on the Honor Roll of the Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report.
Richmond moves up to 23rd in the new Associated Press Top 25. The Spiders are 24th in the USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25.
Mercer's Uros Kovacevic was named Second Team DI & II Men's Basketball All-Region XIX and is on the First Team DI & DI Men's Basketball All-Garden State Athletic Conference, joined by teammate Paco Boussougou.
You can read our profile of Hazel here, which includes extensive quotes from Good Counsel head coach Blair Mills. Exclusive, detailed articles on all five members of the 2010 Princeton recruiting class can be found here.
After the Brown game, I received the following question from reader Jim W.:
I'd be interested to know the Tigers' record in the second weekend of the five game weeks they play relative to their records in other weeks. I believe that years ago they used to play one or both of the Penn games on a Saturday instead of wedging the games into a Tuesday and wonder if that would make sense again, particularly with all the conference tournaments extending the season.
Excellent inquiry.
How have the Tigers faired in Ivy play running "The Gauntlet" of Friday-Saturday-Tuesday-Friday-Saturday?
Here are 31 years of answers, thanks in part to the good folks at the Princeton Athletic Department...
An unexpected find this morning - five short clips from the late 1980s documenting five different successful Princeton basketball plays. I've tried to add details where I could figure them out, but if you can contribute additional notes, please share in the comments!
Given the existence of the three point line and Joe Scott (#4) on the floor for the Tigers, I believe the above Alan Williams (#24) to Dave Orlandini (#21) layup comes from a 93-77 win over defending Ivy champion Brown on January 30th, 1987.
That is John Thompson III wearing #22. Also on the floor - Mike Harnum (#30).
Scott scored 23 and Williams added 21 for Princeton, who shot 8-11 from three.
SportsProf was at Jadwin Gym on Saturday night and shares his observations.
Former Tiger Luke Owings attended Cornell's victory at Harvard and writes about what makes the Big Red so good.
Princeton recruit Ben Hazel scored 16 points in Good Cousel's overtime loss to Gonzaga. Hazel also had 18 points on 11-13 free throw shooting earlier in the week as the Falcons defeated Carroll, 57-49.
Richmond (22-6) remained in first place in the Atlantic 10 with a 74-70 win over George Washington. Kevin Anderson made a midrange jumper with 1:22 left to put the Spiders in front to stay.
Stop the presses! Denver (16-11) won on the road in the Sun Belt Conference! The Pioneers defeated New Orleans 53-45 after building a 20-10 halftime lead.
Princeton recruit Chris Clement scored 14 as Stony Point beat Georgetown, 52-45.
Chris Young is throwing like his setbacks are behind him.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (23-4 / 9-1) took over sole possession of first place with an 88-70 win at Dartmouth (5-19 / 1-9). Harvard (18-6 / 7-3) blew out Columbia (9-15 / 3-7) by 20. Penn (5-18 / 4-5) made six straight threes in the second half, knocking off Yale (10-17 / 4-6) by an 81-69 score.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Marcus Schroeder & Kareem Maddox:
Princeton coach Sydney Johnson was not shocked.
"I thought our energy was pretty bad. Although I'm disappointed by how we played, I don't think I'm very surprised by the end result."
The end result was a three point home loss to Brown in a game that a flat Tigers squad never took physical or emotional control of despite leading by six at halftime.
"When you're a basketball player, no matter if you win or lose, you want to hold your head high just because you played hard and gave the best effort you could," said senior co-captain Marcus Schroeder. "Tonight we just didn't do that, so it is very tough."
Schroeder scored a game-best 17 on 7-16 shooting as Brown keyed on the Tigers' other perimeter weapons. While Schroeder matched his career high, he was 2-9 behind the arc.
"They were doubling the post off me a little bit, sticking on some of our better shooters like Dan [Mavraides] and Doug [Davis] and Pat [Saunders]," added Schroeder, who fell prone to the floor with his hands over his face at the final buzzer. "There were just shots there for me and I wish I made a few more."
Chris Young says he's feeling good following his first bullpen session of spring training.
Princeton recruit T.J. Bray had a stellar stat line - 24 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and six steals as Catholic Memorial dominated Arrowhead 65-41, securing the Classic 8 Conference title for the Crusaders.
In the Italian Cup Final Eight, Mason Rocca had 13 points and 10 rebounds for AJ Milano during a 59-55 loss to Air Avellino.
The Princeton Athletic Department web site writes about the crowd at Jadwin Gym last Saturday night.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (22-4 / 8-1) swept the season series with Harvard (17-6 / 6-3), winning 79-70 at Lavietes Pavilion. Dartmouth (5-18 / 1-8) won their first conference game of the season, 48-44 over Columbia (9-14 / 3-6). The Lions trailed 9-0 after nine and a half minutes of play. Matt Mullery scored 22 points as Brown (9-17 / 3-6) picked off Penn (4-18 / 3-5) by an 80-73 score.
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
