Early second half run drops Tigers to 3-7
By: Bob Nuse
PISCATAWAY – Rutgers scored 17 straight points early in the second half on the way to a 70-62 win over Princeton at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Saturday night.
The win was the ninth in 10 games for the Scarlet Knights, who improved to 9-3. Princeton fell to 3-7 with the loss.
The teams had battled through an even first half that saw the score tied at 24-24 at intermission. But after a Mike Bechtold three-pointer had given Princeton a 27-24 lead in the opening moments of the second half, Rutgers scored 17 straight points and 22 of the next 24 to put the game away.
What had been a 27-24 Princeton lead became a 41-27 Rutgers advantage which eventually grew as large as 46-29. Princeton never got closer than the final eight-point margin.
"We played a very good team tonight," said Princeton coach John Thompson, whose team will be back in action Saturday at Jadwin Gym against Holy Cross. "They did a good job of stopping what we wanted we were trying to do, especially in the second half. The first half went pretty much the way we expected it to. But for them to score 46 points in the second half the way they did is way too much."
Princeton played without starting center Konrad Wysocki, who is out with a foot injury. Bechtold finished with 16 points to lead the Tigers. Ray Robins had 12 points and Ed Persia added 10 for the Tigers.
Rutgers was led by junior guard Jerome Coleman’s 24 points. Freshman Ricky Shields was the only other Scarlet Knight in double figures, finishing with 12 points.