Friday’s loss too familiar

PU men rally for Ivy split

By: Justin Feil
   The Friday night lights continue to blind the Princeton University men’s basketball team.
   The Tigers lost their fourth Friday night Ivy League game in four tries, 56-43, to Yale despite a career-high 18 points from Hun School graduate Noah Savage. The Tigers rebounded with a 69-52 win at Brown on Saturday. Senior captain Will Venable had 18 points to lead the Tigers, who improved to 12-11 overall, 3-6 in the Ivy League.
   "I thought our seniors played great tonight," said PU head coach Joe Scott on Saturday. "In these last few games, they’re going to need to play well for us to win. I thought we missed a lot of chances for layups last night, but tonight we found those same guys for easy baskets."
   Princeton shot 70 percent in the first half against Brown and had a 26-point lead with six minutes to go. The Tigers shot a season-best 65 percent for the game. Besides Venable, Mike Stephens who had 15 points and Luke Owings with 10 also scored in double figures. Princeton had a season-high 18 assists.
   "It was a big win for us because we really needed a win, but also because we needed to play well as a team," said Venable, who pulled within 44 points of reaching the 1,000-point milestone. "We found open guys tonight and took advantage of our opportunities for easy baskets."
   Savage, who had four three-pointers in the loss to Yale, hit his second three-pointer of the game with 11:47 to go in the first half for a 17-15 lead and the Tigers never trailed again at Brown’s Pizzitola Center.
   It was quite a contrast from the night before when it was Yale, which Saturday handed Penn its first loss of the Ivy season, that led from start to finish. They had an 8-1 lead early. It swelled to 16-6, and was a 12-point bulge by halftime.
   "On their home court, they came out ready to play," Scott said. "When you go on the road, you have to be ready to play. Edwin Draughan (20 points for Yale) is going to come after you on his home court. That’s three straight Fridays that we’ve lost. We have to be ready to compete when the ball is thrown up. They were, and you have to be even more ready when you go on the road."
   Yale followed its win over Princeton with a win over Penn, remaining alive in the Ivy League race, two games behind the Quakers with five to play.
   This season, Princeton has lost to six of the seven other Ivy League teams. The only team the Tigers have not lost to is Columbia, who they face this weekend.
   Princeton returns to the road for its final away games of the Ivy season when it plays at Columbia 7 p.m. Friday and at Cornell 7 p.m. Saturday. The Tigers split that weekend at Jadwin Gym, topping Columbia after losing to Cornell on, no surprise, a Friday.