Brown Beats Princeton, 57-54, To Complete Weekend Sweep

Saturday, February 20

6 pm

Brown University

Princeton

Brown Beats Princeton, 57-54, To Complete Weekend Sweep

2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Princeton, New Jersey - Brown connected on 18 of 19 free throws, including two by senior Steve Gruber to ice the game with eight seconds remaining, to come away with a 57-54 Ivy League victory over Princeton and earn its second ever road sweep of Princeton and Penn.

The victory by the Bears completes a sweep of the Tigers and Quakers for the second time ever, with the only other sweep of the Ivy's southern schools on the road coming in the 2007-2008 season. Brown is now 10-17 overall, 4-6 in Ivy play, while Princeton falls to 16-7, 7-2 in Ivy play.

“This weekend is a tremendous feather in our cap,” said Bears head coach Jesse Agel. “We've battled injuries all year and I'm extremely proud of the way we battled back. I'm also happy for Steve Gruber, who will always remember this great moment.”

Senior Matt Mullery led the Bears with 15 points, connecting on 4 of 6 field goals and 7 of 7 free throws, while pulling down a game high eight rebounds. With 36 points in two games this weekend, Mullery now has 1,075 career points at Brown, moving past Gerry Alaimo, who scored 1,046 career points from 1955-1958.

Junior Peter Sullivan added 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the field, and freshman Tucker Halpern scored 12 points, all in the first half, on 6 of 8 shooting from the field.

Princeton's Marcus Schroeder led all scorers with 17 points.

With Brown holding a 55-51 lead with 40 seconds remaining, Princeton cut the Bears' lead to two points, 55-53, on a on a lay-up by Patrick Saunders with 18 seconds remaining. The Tigers pulled to within a point, 55-54, on a free throw by Schroeder with 11 seconds remaining.

Gruber was fouled with eight seconds left on the clock and coolly swished both free throw attempts to put the game away for the Bears. Gruber finished with six points, hitting 6 of 6 free throws.

Trailing 30-24 at the half, Brown came out after intermission and grabbed a three-point lead, 42-39, following a trey by Sullivan with 11:28 left to play. Princeton battled back to grab a two-point lead over the Bears, 46-44, on a lay-up by Kareem Maddox.

The Bears bounced back to pull ahead by three points, 52-49, with 2:14 remaining on a lay-up by freshman Matt Sullivan. After a jump shot by Schroeder that pulled the Tigers to within a point, 52-51, Mullery gave the Bears a three-point advantage again, 54-51, with two free throws.

After a big win over Penn Friday night, Brown got off to a sluggish start, falling behind 7-0 in the game's opening minutes. The Bears clawed back to tie the game, 14-14, on a jump shot by Halpern with 5:59 left in the half.

Brown pulled ahead by two points, 24-22, following two free throws by senior Steve Gruber with 1:25 left in the half.

The Tigers outscored the Bears 8-0 to end the first half and grab a 30-24 lead at intermission. 12 first half turnovers by the Bears turned out to be the difference in Princeton gaining the lead at halftime.

Brown continues its four game road trip, traveling to Boston, Mass. to face Harvard on Friday, February 26, and to Hanover, New Hampshire to battle Dartmouth on Saturday, February 27.