Senior pours in 24 points to drop PU basketball to 0-2
By: Justin Feil
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ — The last time the Princeton University men’s basketball team lost to Monmouth, the Tiger rebounded to go 22-7, win the Ivy League in a playoff and stun the nation with a first-round NCAA tournament win over UCLA.
Those thoughts are a long way off, however, after Gerry Crosby fueled Monmouth to a 70-59 win over Princeton on Saturday night in front of 2,433 partisan Hawk fans at Boylan Gym. Crosby, a senior, scored 16 of his career-high 24 points in the second half when Monmouth took control of the game.
The 1995-96 Tiger squad that lost to Monmouth, 65-56, had something the current Tigers need more of – healthy veteran players. With Nate Walton and Ahmed El-Nokali helplessly sitting by in street clothes, John Thompson used eight different players for at least 12 minutes, and a ninth player for five minutes, to find the right combination. It never came though Princeton put on a furious rally in the final four minutes to cut the deficit to eight points before falling to 0-2 on the season.
"Our lineup had nothing to do with what happened out there tonight," the first-year head coach pointed out. "Obviously (the unsteady lineup) is a factor. We need Nate in the game. We need Ahmed in the game. But the guys we out there have to play better than they did today."
Princeton turned the ball over 17 times while forcing just four Monmouth turnovers. More importantly, the Tigers surrendered 44 second-half points, more than they allowed the Hawks the entire game in last year’s 37-35 win. Princeton also started 0-2 last season.
"It’s hard to get used to losing," Thompson said. "Can you accept it? No. The important thing is winning the league."
To have a chance at the Ivy League title, Princeton will have to find a go-to guy and some tougher defenders. Saturday, the Tigers became the first team since the 1979-80 squad to surrender 70 or more points in back-to-back games.
"I think we have a lot of guys out there that have to play in games," Thompson said. "They have to play in games. That’s what I mean when I say they have to get better. We hit a couple stretches there when we needed someone to step up and help us out. We just couldn’t do it."
Princeton got out to a four-point lead, 11-7, on the strength of a three-pointer apiece by C.J. Chapman, Mike Bechtold and Ed Persia followed by a layup from Eugene Baah. The game seesawed back and forth before Monmouth took the lead for good, 21-19, on a three-pointer by Gerry Crosby with 3:58 to play in the first half. By halftime, the lead had worked its way to 26-20 thanks in part to another long-range bomb from Crosby.
Monmouth dominated the second 20 minutes. The Hawks built a 54-36 lead behind sharp outside shooting from Crosby. Monmouth made all three of their three-point attempts in the second half. They spread the ball well as three other Hawk players joined Crosby in double digits for scoring.
Rahsaan Johnson had 15 despite not starting for disciplinary reasons, Jason Krayl had 13 points and led all players with six assists and Kevin Owens, younger brother of Pennsylvania center Geoff Owens, scored 13 points as well.
Trailing by 18 points with 5:21 to play, Princeton mounted a valiant comeback to crawl within eight points, 64-56, with 42 seconds left, but the Hawks hung on. Princeton made 15 of 33 three-pointers they attempted. Six of them came in the final five minutes.
The Tigers had three players – Baah, Bechtold and Konrad Wysocki – foul out before the contest was over. Wysocki, the freshman, played 24 minutes and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. He added five points and a pair of blocked shots.
Thompson believes that El-Nokali could return to practice this week and Walton is listed as day-to-day. Princeton’s Chris Krug has elected to take off the fall semester and could return to the team in January.
The Tigers travel to Muncie, Ind., to meet Weber State in the first round of the First Merchants Bank Classic at Ball State University 5 p.m. Friday.