Lilly's late game heroics lift men's basketball over Princeton

Saturday, January 14

Providence, R.I.

2:00 p.m.

Brown University

9-8,2-2Ivy League

Princeton

12-5,3-1Ivy League

Princeton

Brown

Lilly's late game heroics lift men's basketball over Princeton

1/14/2023 5:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Kino Lilly Jr. hit the game-winning two-point jumper with under three seconds on the clock to topple Princeton 72-70 Saturday afternoon to hand the Tigers their first Ivy League loss of the season.

"Just stay out of his way," head coach Mike Martin '04 said when asked what his plan was with the clock winding down and the ball in Lilly's hand. "My whole goal there was to stay out of his way, don't mess it up, and let him take us home."

That's exactly what Lilly did. With the game tied at 65 with 1:35 to play, Lilly made three straight shots to win the game for the Bears.

His jumper with 1:09 to go put Brown up two, but Princeton answered with a three to take the one-point lead with 56 seconds remaining.

Lilly quickly answered with a three of his own to retake the lead just seven seconds later. The Tigers again hit a shot, this time to tie the game at 70.

With 32 seconds to play, Lilly walked the ball up the court and let the time run down. The rest of the Bears' offense cleared the defense out of the way and Lilly went one-on-one to the win the game with a jumper from the elbow.

"We made some huge plays late," Martin said. "I'm just really happy for my team. They work really hard and they deserve that."

Lilly finished the day with a game-high 26 on a 10-for-15 shooting performance, including 4-for-7 from three.

"It's great," Lilly said. "Especially in Ivy League play. It's the games we live for. It's the games we practice for. That was just a great game to be a part of."

Paxson Wojcik contributed 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists for the Bears. Nana Owusu-Anane had eight points, eight boards, and five assists.

As a team, the Bears shot 52.8% for the game and hit on 46.9% of their threes.

To start the game, back-to-back threes by Lilly gave Brown a four-point lead early in the first half, but six straight points from Princeton gave the lead back to the Tigers at 12-10 at the 14:48 mark.

The Bears would battle back to tie the game three times in the first half, the final of which came off a Lilly three to knot things at 27 with 6:20 to play in the opening frame.

From there, Princeton outscored Brown 17-9 to finish the half and take a 44-36 lead into the break.

The Tigers shot 63.0% from the field in the first half and were 56.3% (9-for-16) from three. Brown's defense would bring them back to earth in the second half, limiting them to 38.5% and 30.0% respectively.

Early in the second half, the Tigers went up by 10, their largest lead of the game, at 50-40 with 16:56 to play. But over the next four minutes, Brown went on a 14-0 run, which included nine straight points by Wojcik, to take the 54-50 lead.

The Bears went up by as much as six following a Lilly jumper with 7:58 to play. The Tigers would claw their way back to tie the game twice, at 63 and again at 65, before Lilly took over during the final sequence to win the game for the Bears.

It was Brown's first victory over Princeton since 2019.

The Bears now turn their attention to a road matchup with Yale this Monday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. in New Haven, Conn.

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