Princeton’s Second Half Rally Falls Short
Princeton made a furious rally in the second half, but it came up four points short in the 63-60 loss to George Mason. The Tigers trailed 32-19 at the break before outscoring the Patriots by 10 points in the second half.
From the start of the game George Mason took it to the Tigers. By the first media timeout, the Patriots lead 10-6 before slowly building the lead up throughout the first half. Princeton attempted 18 first half three pointers and connected on only 4 of those. George Mason made them pay converting their short shots and taking a 32-19 lead after the first half.
The second half started with Princeton hitting two of their first three three-pointers and cutting the lead to 32-25. GMU built the lead back up to 40-29, but an 8-0 Tigers run, with 5 points from Hans Brase, allowed them to climb within 3.
That run would be countered by the Patriots going on a 10-3 run of their own to take a 50-40 lead with under 8 minutes left. The lead was 59-48 with 3:06 left, before the Tigers went on a 10-2 run to close the deficit to 2 points. Jalen Jenkins’ free throws bookended a missed three by Steven Cook and GMU would hold on for the 63-60 win.
Princeton was led by Hans Brase’s 17 points and 14 rebounds. Spencer Weisz had 10 points on 3 of 9 shooting with Clay Wilson adding 9 points, Pete Miller scoring 8 points, and Steven Cook contributing 8 points. The Tigers were a paltry 19 of 56 from the field (33.9%) and 9 of 30 from beyond the arc (30%). They went 13 of 17 from the free throw line (76.5%), committed 11 turnovers, and were out-rebounded 43-34.
Patrick Holloway scored a game high 19 points for George Mason. Marquise Moore had 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting and Shevon Thompson had 8 points and 9 boards. Vaughn Gray added 8 points and Jalen Jenkins scored 7 points and 7 boards.
Princeton (1-1) travels to face Lafayette on Wednesday night. George Mason (1-1) has a tough game against West Virginia on Thursday night.
Cornell Cannot Complete Comeback Bid Against Loyola (MD)
Cornell trailed by 13 points in the first half and despite a valiant effort, they could not pull out the win against Loyola (MD) on Sunday. The Big Red ultimately fell by a score of 76-71.
Cornell took an early 6-0 lead, but Loyola (MD) erased the deficit by the second TV timeout by taking a 13-11 lead. They continued their ascent from there with a 9-1 run. Andre Walker hit a 3 pointer to make it 34-21 with the Greyhounds taking a 38-27 lead into halftime.
Cornell’s three-headed monster Shonn Miller, Robert Hatter, and Galal Cancer scored the opening 23 points and closed the deficit to 6 points at 56-50 with 11 minutes left in the game. The Big Red actually took a 63-62 lead on David Onuorah’s free throw, however, they let that lead slip away. Down the stretch, Loyola (MD) hit 7 of their final 9 free throws to secure the victory by a final score of 76-71.
Shonn Miller led the Big Red with 20 points and 9 boards on 5 of 15 shooting including 1 of 5 from beyond the arc. He drained 9 of his 10 free throws. Galal Cancer had a big game as well with 19 points on 5 of 7 shooting and 9 of 12 on free throws. Robert Hatter added 17 points on 6 of 16 shooting (1 of 7 from three point range). As a team, they went 21 of 53 (39.6%) from the floor, 3 of 19 from three point land (15.8%), and 26 of 36 from the free throw line (72.2%). They were out-rebounded 43-34, but had 9 blocks. They also cut their turnovers from 16 in the season opener to 10 on Sunday.
The Greyhounds had four players score in double figures led by Tyler Hubbard with 15 points. Eric Laster added 13 points, Franz Rassman scored 12 points, and Andre Walker had 11 points and 6 boards. Loyola (MD) shot 22 of 59 overall (37.3%) and were a solid 8 of 19 from three point range (42.1%). They went 24 of 34 from the free throw line and committed 10 turnovers.
Cornell (1-1) plays their first home game on Tuesday night against Colgate. Loyola (MD) (1-1) has a home game against Maryland-Baltimore County on Wednesday night.
Holy Cross Shocks #25 Harvard
Harvard committed 24 turnovers and still had a chance to pull out the win against Holy Cross. However, Wesley Saunders’ last second shot hit off the front iron and Holy Cross held on for the 58-57 victory.
It was clear from the start that Harvard would not have an easy game. The Crusaders took an early 8-0 lead before Harvard found their feet and would make it a close game. By the second TV timeout of the first half, Holy Cross led 12-9 with Malcolm Miller accounting for 6 of those points. Both teams played strong defense, but Holy Cross was more of a nuisance. A late 10-4 surge by Harvard allowed them to take a slim 28-27 lead into halftime.
The second half was similar to the first half in the way it began. Holy Cross went on a 9-0 run to take a 36-28 lead thanks to 5 points from Justin Burrell. Once again, Harvard need a response and they did by going on a 15-5 run to take a 43-41 lead with 11 minutes left in the game. Still, the Crusaders did not go away.
With 2:30 left in the game, Harvard held a 55-54 lead. Siyani Chambers committed back-to-back turnovers and Holy Cross hit four free throws to lead 58-55. Steve Moundou-Missi slammed the ball home to make it 58-57 with Harvard having a final chance to win. That is when Saunders’ off-balance shot was no good and Holy Cross pulled the upset of the #25 Harvard team.
Harvard was led by Saunders’ 24 points and 11 rebounds. Jonah Travis added 9 points while Corbin Miller contributed 8 points. Moundou-Missi had 8 points as well, with all of those coming in the second half. The most surprising part of Harvard’s offense was Chambers being held to one point while committing 8 turnovers. The Crimson went 21 of 48 from the floor (43.8%) and 5 of 13 from beyond the arc (38.5%). Harvard went 10 of 13 from the charity stripe (76.9%) and out-rebounded the smaller Holy Cross team 36-29.
Holy Cross was led by Justin Burrell’s 16 points on 5 of 9 shooting. He was active on the defensive end as well with 3 steals. Malcolm Miller added 12 points as did Eric Green. The Crusaders went 23 of 56 overall (41.1%) and 3 of 12 from three point land (25%). They hit only 9 of 17 free throws (52.9%), but committed just 11 turnovers, and had 15 steals.
Harvard (1-1) will definitely need to work on their turnovers going forward. Against MIT on Friday night, the Crimson had 15 turnovers and saw that rise to 24 against a very good Holy Cross team. Harvard faces Florida Atlantic on Thursday night at home.
Holy Cross (1-0) has a big win on their resume with a few chances still left in the non-conference part of their schedule. They face another Ivy League team on Wednesday night in Brown (1-0).