Princeton Men's Basketball at Lafayette

Final: Lafayette 54, Princeton 53
Dan Mavraides had Princeton's last two shots on the game's final possession, but both attempts came up short. The Leopards escape with a 54-53 win.

:28 2nd: Lafayette 54, Princeton 53
A critical turnover goes Princeton's way, and Jason Briggs snags the loose ball at the baseline. Tigers call timeout with 28 seconds left. Princeton has one left, Lafayette two.

:47 2nd: Lafayette 54, Princeton 53
Nick Lake tried to save the ball by jumping out of bounds but couldn't, and the ball goes back to Lafayette, which calls a timeout with a full shot clock with which to work. Princeton could have the last possession, but Lafayette might have a two-possession lead.

1:18 2nd: Lafayette 54, Princeton 53
Pawel Buczak picks up his fourth foul and Lafayette's Michael Gruner makes one of two from the line before Lafayette gets the rebound and calls timeout. Princeton's big men are in foul trouble, as Buczak now has four and Zach Finley has three.

2:19 2nd: Princeton 51, Lafayette 51
Just in case it gets there, Princeton and Lafayette last went to overtime in the series in the 1999-2000 season. Princeton has had one overtime game this year, a three-point loss to Maine in November.

2:19 2nd: Princeton 51, Lafayette 51
It's tied again as we've reached the last media timeout.

4:26 2nd; Princeton 51, Lafayette 49
Dan Mavraides hits his third three of the game to give Princeton the lead, and Sydney Johnson immediately follows with a timeout. Princeton has one 30 and one full left, while Lafayette still has three 30s and a full left. That could be an important fact in a game that has been tight most of the way.

6:32 2nd; Lafayette 47, Princeton 46
Dan Mavraides is back in for Kareem Maddox as one of two players with three fouls. The other is Zach Finley.

8:11 2nd; Princeton 42, Lafayette 42
Just before he picked up his second foul of the game, Kareem Maddox leapt up from a crowd underneath the hoop for a slam dunk. TigerBlog can't recall the last Princeton dunk this season, but Maddox did have one against Maine in November.

8:30 2nd; Lafayette 42, Princeton 40
Doug Davis' first three, and first points, of the game gives Princeton a lead, but as with Comfort's three, Lafayette gets its own three right back.

11:13 2nd; Lafayette 39, Princeton 35
Freshman John Comfort's second three of his career brings Princeton within one but Lafayette hits its own trey at the other end. The half's second media timeout comes, and with it, the Kirby Sports Center reaches its zenith of sound once again. A t-shirt is being tossed by the Leopard mascot.

16:51 2nd; Lafayette 26, Princeton 26
Sydney Johnson calls Princeton's first timeout of the second half. The Tigers have two 30s and a 60 remaining, while Lafayette has its second-half maximum 3-plus-1 left.

18:00 2nd; Lafayette 26, Princeton 24
Dan Mavraides briefly took back the lead for Princeton with a three, but a three on the other end puts the Leopards ahead again. The 23-21 lead at the end of the first half was Lafayette's first of the game.

Halftime; Lafayette 23, Princeton 21
For those fans who tried to view the live stats through Princeton's link but couldn't, that link is now fixed.

1:30 1st; Princeton 19, Lafayette 18
The Tigers will hope to continue the Ivy League's winning ways today. Penn got a victory earlier this afternoon down in Orlando, Fla., on Central Florida's court against Campbell, and Yale is leading Hampton in the first half down in Virginia's Tidewater region. Dartmouth will be out near California's capital at UC Davis later tonight.

2:22 1st; Princeton 16, Lafayette 16
Doug Davis is whistled for his second foul, and Max Huc will make another early appearance. After not playing against Manhattan, Huc got back into the rotation in Princeton's last game at Central Connecticut State. Huc scores and is fouled.

3:34 1st; Princeton 16, Lafayette 16
It's tied for the first time since the game's early moments, and John Comfort makes his first first-half appearance of the season.

3:58 1st; Princeton 16, Lafayette 13
Ending a 6-0 run for the Leopards, Jason Briggs hits a long two to get a three-point lead back.

9:35 1st; Princeton 14, Lafayette 7
To get a score more apt for the football game Princeton and Lafayette play almost every year, Marcus Schroeder hits a three, his first since the South Carolina game Dec. 2.

11:08 1st; Princeton 11, Lafayette 7
Finley is whistled again, really rubbing it in to TigerBlog's jinxing abilities, and fouls are even at 4-4. Buczak replaces Finley.

11:35 1st; Princeton 11, Lafayette 7
In another case of TigerBlog crushing good karma, Princeton is whistled for its third foul, this one on Zach Finley. Finley, Dan Mavraides and Pawel Buczak each have one.

11:51 1st; Princeton 11, Lafayette 5
Media timeout number two.

12:30 1st; Princeton 9, Lafayette 5
The Tigers have started off well in the fouls category, with just one so far. Lafayette has four. It's a significant stat because the Tigers have had more fouls than their opponent in eight of nine games this season, including the last six. The only game where Princeton was whistled less was at Army, a win.

15:48 1st; Princeton 4, Lafayette 3
The game sees its first media timeout. The Leopards have been to the NCAA Tournament three times, in 1957, 1999 and 2000. In the recent two appearances, Lafayette was a 15 seed and lost to Miami (Fla.) in Boston in 1999 and Temple in Buffalo in 2000.

The 1957 appearance shows how different the tournament was back then. in a 23-team field, Lafayette got a first-round bye, while Syracuse and UConn fought it out to play the Leopards in the regional semis. Syracuse beat Lafayette by four in their meeting, and the Final Four that year was North Carolina, Michigan State, Kansas and Bill Russell's University of San Francisco.

16:15 1st
A Lafayette turnover results in a smattering of applause. A Bronx cheer? No, the Tigers have a following here in Easton. Among the orange fans are Kyle Koncz and Kevin Steuerer, both 2008 Princeton basketball alums.

17:45 1st
It's an auspicious start for the Tigers, who are out to a 4-0 lead and Lafayette has the only foul whistled.

Hello from Easton, Pa., where Princeton's second-longest non-league rivalry will add an installment tonight, the 61st in a series Princeton leads 43-17.

Also new today is Princeton's starting lineup, breaking a nine-game streak to start the season. In for Patrick Saunders, who is away from the team due to a family matter, is Dan Mavraides. In for Jason Briggs is Marcus Schroeder, who will be making his first start since Feb. 23, 2008 at Dartmouth.