By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton University men’s basketball team completed a successful regular season on Tuesday night by holding off Penn for a 72-71 win.
The Tigers figure to be playing in a tournament next week — likely the NIT — and that’s something head coach Mitch Henderson is looking forward to.
“We capped off what I thought was a very good year and we’re hopeful to keep playing,” said Henderson, whose team finished 22-6 overall and 12-2 in the Ivy League. “I am hopeful we can flush whatever just happened as fast as possible and grow and get better and ask more of ourselves because there is a lot left in this team.”
The Tigers led Penn by 18 points late in the second half Tuesday night before just holding on for the one-point win. The Quakers nearly beat the Tigers earlier this season at the Palestra and this time could have walked out of Jadwin Gym with a win.
“I said to Coach (Steve) Donahue after the game, we should have gone down in both games to Penn,” Henderson said. “We were really fortunate in the first game and made some big plays. And tonight they were terrific. They made it really tough to guard them. They made all the right decisions down the stretch. (Jackson) Donahue was making huge shots. We couldn’t stop them. “
The Tigers never let the lead slip away completely and were able to finish with a win. Henry Caruso led four Tigers in double-figures with 13 points, while Devin Cannady and Spencer Weisz had 11 apiece and Steven Cook added 10.
“Penn is really scrappy and they don’t give up,” said Pete Miller, who had nine points and 10 rebounds in the win. “The same thing happened to us in the first game. They are always going to keep going and we just have to know they aren’t going to stop.”
Heading into last weekend it looked like the Tigers would be playing for a share of the Ivy League regular season title when they faced the Quakers. But they slipped up and lost at Harvard, which gave the league title to Yale, which finished 13-1.
“Last Friday night was really tough for us and we’re still kind of feeling the effects of the ripple down,” Miller said. “We have a lot more basketball to play if we get the opportunity and we’re really excited to get out there and we’ll rally this week and keep going. We think we’re going to make a run if we get an opportunity to.”
The Tigers did finish the regular season a perfect 13-0 at home, which bodes well for them if they host a post-season game.
“We really like playing in front of the crowd at Jadwin,” Miller said. “It is a special place. To win games here and make our fans happy means everything to us.”
