By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Mike Strittmatter understands better than most that it’s not where you start, but where you finish.
The Princeton University forward has started the last three games for the men’s basketball team after an injury-laded beginning to his senior year.
”I honestly doubted I’d get back and have a chance to play,” Strittmatter said. “My competitive nature kicked in. You spend so much time with them, you can’t help being happy for your teammates. It was my competitive nature to want to be out there, but at the time, we were doing pretty well. There were some doubts, but at same time I believed in my own abilities.”
Strittmatter and classmate Jason Briggs started as the Tigers honored their seniors in their Jadwin Gym finale before a 62-54 win over Yale on Saturday. Briggs and Strittmatter scored the first two baskets of the game as the Tigers went on to avenge a 12-point loss in New Haven two weeks earlier in which they were outrebounded by 20 by the Bulldogs. Dan Mavraides had 16 points to lead the Tigers Saturday.
”Senior Night for us happens with three games left so it’s a little different,” said Strittmatter, who had nine points and five rebounds Saturday. “There’s still a lot of basketball left. It hasn’t sunk in. We still have lot to do and a lot to accomplish.”
After topping Brown on Friday, 56-48, behind 16 points from Douglas Davis, then beating Yale, Princeton moved within a game of the Ivy League lead when Cornell lost by one point to Harvard on Saturday. Princeton huddled around a Blackberry, refreshing it every five seconds until they got the news of Harvard’s upset.
Princeton, which improved to 12-12 overall and 7-4 in Ivy action, will play at Columbia on Friday, at Cornell on Saturday and then finish at Penn next Tuesday night.
”We took care of our business,” Strittmatter said. “That’s all we can do. It’s in our own hands now. We got lucky with the Cornell-Harvard game.”
It’s about time for Strittmatter. He hasn’t had much luck other than the bad sort in the last two injury-plagued years. Twice this year, he tried to come back from injuries to his hamstring only to re-injure it again. Once that was recovered, his back suffered a strain. He did not resume full practices until the Ivy season began.
”I definitely had some catching up to do,” said the Phoenix resident. “It’s turned out good. I stuck with it. I’m glad I stuck with it.
”I had a little good luck recently so it’s balancing out. If I get a shot to bounce in here or there, I won’t be surprised. I feel I’m a bit due.”
Strittmatter started and played the first six minutes against Dartmouth. He started again vs. Brown and then again against Yale. He’s hoping to practice well enough to stay in the starting lineup next weekend.
Bigger than whom starts is winning the next three. Doing so would at least force a tie for the Ivy title and force a playoff to decide the Ivy League’s NCAA tournament berth. Strittmatter hasn’t been this close to an Ivy title since his freshman year.
”We were in second place the whole time and ended up coming up a game short against Penn,” he recalled. “We’re trying to chase a team to catch them again. We started off 4-0 this year and maybe our heads got a little big. Now that we’ve had another big weekend and won, we have to make sure we focus for Columbia.”
Starting the Ivy season well and opening a winning streak last weekend was nice, but as Mike Strittmatter knows better than most, it’s not how you start but how you finish. He and the Tigers are poised for a big.

