Heading into Saturday afternoon’s matchup with the Drexel Dragons at Jadwin Gym, Princeton coach Mitch Henderson was perplexed.
His club’s most recent outings against Monmouth, Fairleigh Dickinson and Hofstra have raised a degree of concern after a surprisingly good start to the season. His team’s defense has been too generous, yielding 76 in a road loss at Monmouth, 79 in a close win at home against FDU and 81 in a loss at Hofstra. The Hofstra loss was particularly galling because the Tigers surrendered 50 in the first half.
Drexel, picked third in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason poll, reached Jadwin with a 4-3 record. Its most recent contest was two days ago, a 21-point victory over FDU, a common opponent with the Tigers. Dragon big man James Butler notched his fourth straight double-double against the Knights on Thursday. Camren Wynter, a preseason first team all-conference selection along with Butler, returns for the Dragons. He torched the Tigers for 31 points two years ago in Philadelphia in an 82-76 Drexel win.
Henderson was pleased to report that Drew Friberg, the State College sharpshooter, will return to full strength after suffering for more than a week with severe chest congestion. Friberg did not score in the last two games in very few minutes.
While the first half was a back-and-forth affair the Tigers were unable to grab the lead at any point. Trailing by 10 with just over six minutes to go, Friberg made his presence felt with a pull-up jumper, igniting a 6-0 Tiger run. The period closed with the Dragons in the lead, 41-37.
Princeton finally managed to tie the score on a defensive rebound by junior forward Tosan Evbuomwan, followed by a baseline-to-baseline trip for a layup at the other end. Evbuomwan was fashioning an incredibly special game. Butler was clearly outclassed by the Tiger center, forcing coach Zach Spiker to use 6’ 10” first year center Amari Williams against Evbuomwan. Like Evbuomwan, Williams is a product of England. (The former is from Newcastle, the latter from Nottingham.)
Williams will be very good in time and had his moments against his Tiger opponent, but neither Dragon defender was able to deny Evbuomwan on this night.
The Tigers enjoyed their first lead of the game with just over 14 minutes remaining when Ryan Langborg canned a three-pointer, 54-52. The teams traded the lead for more than 10 minutes, leaving the onlookers with a sense that the game would be decided late, perhaps at the very end. A 6-0 run propelled the Dragons to a four-point lead, 68-64, with two minutes left. At least, the Dragons would finish the game without Butler, who had fouled out trying to contain Evbuomwan.
Trailing by three, the Tigers grabbed a rebound at the defensive end and buckled up for a maximum effort. Junior guard Ryan Langborg, displaying his icy cool, calmly drilled a 28-foot catch-and-shoot three to tie the game at 71 with 27 ticks on the clock. The Dragons wisely held the ball for the last shot but did not get a particularly good look as time expired in regulation.
Both teams shot at least 45% for the game, but the Tigers managed to hold the Dragons to just 30 points in the second half, their best showing in four games over a 20-minute stretch.
The extra period was, if anything, more exciting than the Tigers’ courageous finish to the first 40 minutes. Drexel jumped out to a quick 6-0 advantage. A thunderous Evbuomwan two-handed dunk at the 2:32 mark got the Tigers started. Two Ethan Wright free throws just under the one-minute mark got the Tigers to 79 and into a tie.
The play of the game, and what may be looked upon as the play of the season, occurred on Drexel’s final possession. Jaelin Llewellyn and the Dragons’ Xavier Bell each tried to corral a loose ball in the frontcourt. Bell came up with the ball but was called for an offensive foul with 32 seconds remaining. This was a game-changer, and courtside observers agreed that it could have gone either way. It helps to be on your home court in that situation.
Everyone in the gym knew the Tigers would try to get the ball to Evbuomwan for the final shot. He got it at the left elbow and proceeded to back his defender down to the block. Protecting the ball with his right shoulder, Evbuomwan twisted to the hoop to launch a left-hander at the rim. When it fell through with three seconds on the clock, the Tigers had an improbable but much needed 81-79 win.
There were plenty of heroes for the Tigers, but none more important than Evbuomwan. He once again set a career high in scoring with 27 on 11-for-20 from the field, with most of his scores coming in traffic at the rim. He added seven rebounds and an excellent 6 assists. Langborg contributed 17 points, including 5-for-7 from deep. Llewellyn had 15 points and three assists. The floor general is almost Spencer Weisz-like in his ability to control the ball. The team had a season-low seven turnovers tonight, a statistic that brought a gleam to their coach’s eye. Ethan Wright once again led the team in rebounds with eight, tossing in 10 points of his own. Matt Allocco, the first-year player from Ohio, deserves a mention. He is a tough player off the bench, not at all leery of mixing it up inside. He corralled five rebounds in just under eight minutes of action. First-year players Zach Martini and Mason Hooks gave the Tigers some good minutes enabling Henderson to rest Evbuomwan during the contest.
The score was tied 12 times tonight, but Drexel held the lead for nearly 36 of the 45 minutes of play. That the Tigers showed patience and poise in the face of a determined and capable foe made the win even more significant.
The Bucknell Bison visit Jadwin on Tuesday at 7 p.m., the first of two games against Patriot League opponents. On Saturday afternoon, Princeton journeys to Easton to meet a traditional rival, the Lafayette Leopards, before returning to Jadwin on Dec. 13 to face the America East’s UMBC. The 5-2 Retrievers smoked Columbia by 38 and the ACC’s Pitt Panthers by 10.
Great recap, George. That was a very exciting game and quite a satisfying win by the Tigers. The showdown between Tosan Evbuoman and Amari Williams was epic. Honestly, I thought Williams got the better of the contest until the very end when the game was on the line. Although he wasn’t scoring a lot of points, Williams was much effective at disrupting than the heralded Buter. He swatted away balls and generally contained Tosan in the second half. But our guy got the last laugh with an incredibly clutch shot despite solid defense by Williams. It was a truly enjoyable game to watch played by two very talented and competitive teams. It speaks volumes about the character of this Tigers team that they were able to gut out the victory. This 2021-2022 Tigers squad is fun and fearless. I really like their chances to make a run at the League champsionship.