Men's Basketball at Central Connecticut State

Final, CCSU 67, Princeton 56

1:15 2nd CCSU 62, Princeton 56
Davis hits a layup but misses a free throw, and CCSU calls a 30-second timeout. They have two timeouts left.

1:27 2nd CCSU 62, Princeton 54
Right on cue, Robby Ptacek hits a pair after a Doug Davis foul.

1:46 2nd CCSU 60, Princeton 54
Winning the game at the line might be tough for the Tigers, as CCSU might not miss many opportunities. They are making 73% of their attempts on the season entering today, and four of five players on the court for CCSU are hitting at 69% or better.

1:46 2nd CCSU 60, Princeton 54
Doug Davis hits a big three-pointer to give him 13 points and keep Princeton in the game, but CCSU's Aaron Hall hits a long two on the other end, and Princeton calls its second-to-last timeout.

4:19 2nd CCSU 56, Princeton 48
Two free throws make it 14 points for Horton as CCSU has its largest lead of the game. John Comfort makes his earliest appearance in a game yet for Princeton, and Nick Lake hits a three.

5:18 2nd CCSU 54, Princeton 48
It's a six-point lead again for CCSU after Ken Horton's 12th point of the game.

6:55 2nd CCSU 48, Princeton 45
An alert defensive play by Dan Mavraides and a coast-to-coast contested layup gets an and-one opportunity (and a media timeout), bringing the Tiger sophomore to 12 points before the free throw. It's his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season. His high is 15 against South Carolina.

9:11 2nd CCSU 46, Princeton 41
Back-to-back fouls have put CCSU ahead by six, as Horton has reached 10 points for the Blue Devils, who have three players in double-figures.

10:00 2nd CCSU 43, Princeton 41
Nick Lake has scored the last five points for the Tigers, who lead again... but not for long, as Thompson hits his own three.

11:37 2nd CCSU 40, Princeton 36
Just as TigerBlog was thinking that the Tigers might hold CCSU's Ken Horton to a season-low point total, the 20-ppg scorer gets a layup. He now has seven, and his season-low is 10. Shemik Thompson (10 pts) and Robby Ptacek (15) are filling in for the Blue Devils.

14:44 2nd CCSU 33, Princeton 30
Layup? What layup? Buczak, who has hit a couple three-pointers this season, hits a long two.

14:59 2nd CCSU 33, Princeton 28
After Pawel Buczak can't find a lane for a layup, his outlet pass is tipped out of bounds and alertly caught by Princeton play-by-play man John Sadak, seated courtside. Sadak didn't fumble one bit, even while calling the action solo.

16:34 2nd CCSU 29, Princeton 26
Jason Briggs hits a three, his first since the Rutgers game, and it's a one-possession game again.

17:48 2nd CCSU 29, Princeton 23
A nifty up-and-under move by Kareem Maddox gives Princeton its first points of the half, and the Tigers get a rebound on the other end.

18:09 2nd CCSU 29, Princeton 21
CCSU has scored the first six points of the half, and Sydney Johnson calls timeout.

0:00 1st CCSU 23, Princeton 21
Davis gets a steal and a layup to become the first Tiger into double-figures with 11 points, and Shemik Thompson sees a half-ending three-point attempt rim out. Princeton is fortunate to have just a two-point deficit, shooting just 32% for the half, including 3 for 16 (18.5%) from beyond the arc.

1:28 1st CCSU 23, Princeton 19
Nick Lake sees Princeton's 15th attempt from long distance touch every part of the rim before missing, and after Pawel Buczak's first foul, Princeton's 10th, CCSU heads to the line and makes one.

1:52 1st CCSU 22, Princeton 19
The Tigers are struggling from three-point range today, hitting only 3 of 13 attempts.

2:31 1st CCSU 22, Princeton 19
The Tigers will retain the ball after a foul on CCSU's Shemik Thompson, but the Tigers have still out-fouled CCSU 9-4. Ken Horton remains on the bench for CCSU, but Thompson has picked up the slack, scoring five points since Horton took a seat. Robby Ptacek has four for CCSU since that time.

4:43 1st Princeton 19, CCSU 18
Hello Doug Davis! The Princeton freshman hits a long two to put the Tigers ahead, but Shemik Thompson counters and CCSU is ahead 20-19.

5:20 1st CCSU 18, Princeton 17
Make that a 10-0 run as two CCSU free throws follow a Max Huc foul, Princeton's eighth of the half. CCSU had never led until now and the game hadn't been tied since 0-0.

5:57 1st Princeton 17, CCSU 16
An 8-0 run makes Princeton coach Sydney Johnson call a timeout, the first of the game for either team. Princeton hasn't scored since the 11:12 mark of the half, a span now approaching six minutes.

7:08 1st Princeton 17, CCSU 14
Max Huc makes his first appearance of the afternoon. Huc didn't play against Manhattan but logged 12 minutes against Rutgers, his second-most of the season.

7:45 1st Princeton 17, CCSU 14
The trend of Princeton's opponents shooting more free throws than the Tigers looks to continue for this game, as CCSU has six to Princeton's two. The Blue Devils are already in a one-and-one foul shooting situation.

8:43 1st Princeton 17, CCSU 12
The Tigers are behind in fouls, racking up six to CCSU's three, but only one Tiger has two (Saunders). Meanwhile, Ken Horton, CCSU's big scorer, just picked up his second and has taken a seat.

11:42 1st Princeton 14, CCSU 8
We've reached the second media timeout as Dan Mavraides, painted into a corner, tossed the ball off a CCSU leg to retain possession.

12:00 1st Princeton 14, CCSU 6
Dan Mavraides is up to a quick five points off the bench.

15:18 1st
CCSU's top scorer, Ken Horton, who is averaging 20 points a game, didn't get his first points until just now when he sank one of two free throws following a Kareem Maddox foul.

16:01 1st
The score was Doug Davis 7, CCSU 3 until Jason Briggs just put in a layup to make it 9-3 Tigers. Davis has scored in every possible way, getting a layup, hitting a three-pointer and sinking two free throw.

18:34 1st
Three straight turnovers to start the game, and two of them have come from CCSU. Still 0-0.

13 minutes to tip
Princeton's starters are in the book, and they're the same five for the ninth straight game to start the season: Jason Briggs, Doug Davis, Kareem Maddox, Patrick Saunders and Pawel Buczak.

Starting for CCSU are 6-0 guard Shemik Thompson, 6-5 forward David Simmons, 6-3 guard Robby Ptacek, 6-6 forward Ken Horton and 6-2 guard Joe Seymore.

25 minutes to tip
TigerBlog bids a fond farewell to the site of one of Princeton's best NCAA Tournament memories. The RCA Dome, which has been slowly dismantled over the year, was imploded today. An expanded Indiana Convention Center will take its place, and the Indianapolis Colts have moved across the street to Lucas Oil Stadium. The new place will host the Midwest Regional in the NCAA men's tournament this year as well as the 2010 Final Four.

The RCA Dome, of course, was where Princeton defeated UCLA, 43-41, in 1996 for one of the most memorable upsets in NCAA Tournament history. Since the new building will host NCAA Tournament games, perhaps the Tigers will be able to create more Indy memories there someday.

35 minutes to tip
Hello from New Britain, Conn., home of Central Connecticut State University and this afternoon's game between the 4-5 CCSU Blue Devils and the 2-6 Princeton Tigers. TigerBlog will again be courtside to augment John Sadak's excellent play-by-play, which is available free here.