Courtesy: Princeton Athletic CommunicationsMT. PLEASANT, Mich. – A year later, Central Michigan again began its season seeing all it wanted of Douglas Davis.
In one sequence during the game’s final minute, the sophomore guard drove for a go-ahead layup, blocked a jumper as the smallest player on the floor, and hit two game-sealing free throws as the Princeton men’s basketball team defeated the Chippewas 71-68 Saturday afternoon.
The win came a year after Davis began his career with 25 points in a two-point loss to Central Michigan at Jadwin Gym. This time, Davis co-led Princeton with 16 points. More importantly, those points came with a victory.
“I just had to get myself in position to make a big play,” Davis said of his late defensive stop. “Actually, I was out of position. I had to get back there and try to block his shot.”
Princeton (1-0) also appears to have learned from allowing Chippewa forward Chris Kellermann to score 28 points in last year’s game, instead holding him to just five points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Robbie Harman had a game-high 22 points for Central Michigan (0-1), but it was his attempt at a go-ahead jumper that Davis blocked on the next play after Davis put Princeton ahead at 69-68 with 28 seconds left.
The win was not without concern, however, as the Tigers allowed Central Michigan back into the game late.
After Nick Lake hit a three-pointer to give Princeton a 61-54 lead with 5:30 to play, the Chippewas went on an 8-1 run to tie it at 62-62 with 3:06 to go.
The Chippewas took their first lead of the half at 68-67 on a pair of Jordan Bitzer free throws with 39 seconds left before Davis’ go-ahead score.
Princeton’s largest lead was nine, at 53-44 on a bucket by Dan Mavraides inside of 13 minutes to play in the game. Mavraides also had 16 points while Zach Finley was the third Tiger in double-figures with 13 as all eight Princeton players who entered the game found the bucket.
Ian Hummer, with four points, and Will Barrett, with two, were the only freshmen to play, scoring their first collegiate points.
Princeton was in the lead thanks to a hot-shooting first half. The Tigers made 14 of 19 (73.7 percent) attempts from the field in the opening 20 minutes, highlighted by a 9-0 run that enabled the Tigers to turn a 29-25 deficit into a 34-29 lead with 3:27 before the break.
For the game, Princeton shot 58.5 percent from the field to Central Michigan’s 44.2 percent. That allowed the Tigers to overcome giving up 14 turnovers to the Chippewas’ eight and a nearly even rebounding game with Princeton holding a 28-27 edge.
The Tigers will open their home schedule Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game against Manhattan at Jadwin Gym.
Video: Head coach Sydney Johnson in the postgame press conference; Douglas Davis talks about his block in the final minute with Zach Finley.
