PU gains momentum with fourth straight win

Tiger defense holds off late Lafayette rally

By: Bob Nuse
   EASTON, Pa. — Joe Scott is hoping that by the time his Princeton University men’s basketball team plays its first game at Jadwin Gym, the Tigers will be clicking on all cylinders.
   On Tuesday night, the Tigers weren’t perfect, but they were good enough to win for the fourth straight time. Princeton held off Lafayette, 44-42, at Kirby Sports Center, even though Princeton failed to make a field goal over the final 9:54 of the game.
   But right now, Scott isn’t worried about that. He’s just happy to see his team make strides each game, getting closer to where they want to be.
   "We’re 4-1 and we haven’t played one home game," said Scott, whose team travels to Milwaukee this weekend to play in the Pepsi Blue & Gold Classic at Marquette. "We have to keep winning in different environments. If we can do that, then we get to play some home games and that’s a whole other challenge.
   "We’ve got to get to be really good at home. There are all of these parts and pieces that go into having a really good program. Right now we get seven cracks right off the bat to play on the road and play neutrals. They’re important and you have to develop that mentality. Then we go to another mentality of being really good at home."
   Princeton opened with three games on a neutral court in Ohio, then came back to win games at Manhattan and Lafayette. Tonight they’ll face North Dakota State, then the Tigers play either the host school or Northwestern State on Saturday. Those games lead Princeton into its home opener Dec. 6 against Lehigh.
   In the win over Lafayette, the Tigers struggled early on offense. But a 12-0 run to open the second half led to a 31-21 lead. Lafayette battled back a couple times, but the Tigers held on for the win. Kyle Koncz and Luke Owings had 12 points apiece to lead the offense.
   "The game went the way I thought it would go," said Scott, whose team went on a 7-0 run after the Leopards had closed to within 32-30. "They always play well against us. They always defend against us. They always defend and guard when they play us. We’re still in the growing stage of learning that we can be a pretty good basketball team. We came out in the early part of the second half and played our kind of basketball and we did it really well.
   "The first 15 minutes of the second half, I thought we were terrific. Our defense was good. Our offense was good. Then in road games you have to make fouls to make sure the home team doesn’t creep back in it and we missed some fouls. We hung on and made some defensive plays down the stretch. That’s two straight road wins for us, which is a pretty good thing."
   What Scott likes best about this team is that there is never the same hero. Koncz is the top scorer, but freshman point guard Marcus Schroeder is already becoming a solid floor general. Owings and Justin Conway are solid, freshman Lincoln Gunn has shot well as Schroeder’s backcourt mate, and the bench is deeper.
   "They’re much better this year than last year," Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon said. "I didn’t see them with Conway last year, but the two young kids have run this system the last four years, so they’re not playing like freshmen. When you can have a Noah Savage coming off the bench and (Mike) Strittmatter and guys like that coming off the bench, that’s a very formidable team."
   Scott also likes the versatility of his team so far this year.
   "We can turn to different guys at different times to have them come through for us," he said. "That’s a benefit of having experience. We have some youth, and those guys are playing well. Gunn is going to make some shots, he’s too good a shooter not to. And the other kid is tougher than nails. It’s just a matter of the upperclassmen being consistent that will be the difference for us going forward and so far I like what I see.
   "We’ve been rebounding better. We’ve been defending better. Hopefully we can keep getting better at it. Because every game now is the kind of game where if we play well and do the things we can do, they’re winnable games. You need to make winnable games become wins."
   If Princeton can win tonight against North Dakota State, it would be their best start in eight years. And after starting 2-10 last year, the Tiger players know they have to look to improve every game to keep this year’s quick start going.
   "Ever since the first game, where we know we didn’t rebound the ball well, we’ve looked to get better," said Koncz, who leads the team in scoring at 14 points a game. "After each game we talk about what we didn’t do well and we try to correct it. I think everything is coming along. We just have to keep working and keep improving."
   And keep winning on the road, which this team has already done pretty well this season.