Brown Can’t Tame Princeton Tigers in Home Finale

Brown news release…

Providence, R.I. – Sophomore Steve Cook scored 15 points and Princeton used an array of backdoor layups and long range treys to lead from start to finish in an 80-62 win over Brown Saturday evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

Princeton improves to 13-14 overall, 6-5 in the Ivy League, while Brown falls to 13-16 overall, 4-8 in league play.

Brown started four of its seniors – Longji Yiljep, Jon Schmidt, Dockery Walker and Rafael Maia – after Senior Day ceremonies prior to the start of the game.

“It was emotional playing my last game at the Pizzitola tonight,” said Maia.  “It’s unfortunate I didn’t get the result we was looking for. Brown is a really special place that I love and will love forever.”

The Bears were paced by sophomore Steven Spieth, who scored 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting from the free throw line.

Walker also scored in double figures for the Bears with 10 points, while grabbing five rebounds. Maia, the Ivy League’s leading rebounder, grabbed a game high nine rebounds and added nine points.

“That wasn’t any fun tonight,” said Brown head coach Michael Martin.  “Princeton deserves a lot of credit.  They space the floor, can drive to the basket and really shoot the ball.”

Cook connected on 4-of-6 field goals and 6-of-6 free throws in scoring 15 points.  Henry Caruso (12 points) and Spencer Weisz (12 points) also scored in double figures for the Tigers.

The Tigers shot a torrid 78-percent, connecting on 18-of-23 shots from the charity stripe, while Brown shot just 48-percent from the line (10-of-21).

The Bears fell behind early, 18-8, in the first seven minutes before getting back in the game with a 7-0 run to cut the Tigers’ lead to 18-15 on a layup by Maia with 10:55 left in the half.

Princeton recovered with a 13-3 spurt to pull ahead by a 31-19 margin and later led 43-29 at the half on a last second trey by Alec Brennan.

The Tigers’ biggest lead came with 9:50 remaining in the game when Brennan connected on two free throws for a 69-40 advantage.

Brown wraps-up its regular season next week, traveling to Hanover, NH to face Dartmouth on Friday, March 6, and then on to Boston, MA, to battle Harvard on Saturday, March 7 at 6pm, in a game televised by CBS Sports Network.