Dawgs cruise past Eagles
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on January 27, 2010 1:47 PM
From the play on the interior, to momentum and crowd noise Princeton found a way to dominate Rosewood in nearly ever facate of the game on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs seized control early and capitalized on the Eagles foul trouble to earn a 60-48 Carolina 1-A Conference road win.
Rosewood trimmed a 16-point second half deficit to eight in the fourth quarter but Princeton refused to fold. Bulldogs center Andre Nixon scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. Forward Matt Williamson added nine points and eight rebounds.
Nixon and Williamson controlled the interior while Eagles' forward Jacquez Raynor was mired in foul trouble. Raynor finished with just two points.
"Matt, the last couple of games has really started playing well," said Princeton head coach Jeff Davis. "That gives us a big combination and some balanced scoring. Andre and Matt are hard to stop. Matt's strength is his big advantage."
After trailing 30-17 at the half Rosewood climbed to within 35-24 in the third quarter and trailed 54-46 with just over a minute to play in the game. The Eagles inability to play with consistency for four quarters hampered their comeback attempt.
Jyhkia Applewhite led Rosewood with 15 points and Antonio Henriques chipped in 11. No other Eagles scored in double figures. Rosewood (7-11, 2-3 CC) attempted just five free throws and made only two.
"I just think mentally we didn't play well all night," said Eagles head coach Daniel Mitchell. "It's been this way for a while now where we play well in spurts. We just can't do it consistently enough to compete with some of the good teams. We couldn't get string together enough offensively or defensively and get enough stops to make a run."
Princeton (10-7, 4-1) excelled in its half-court offense, particularly in the first half and opened up a 25-9 lead on C.J. Jeffreys' layup midway through the second quarter. David Gurganus scored 13 points and Patrick Jacobs contributed eight.
"When we don't turn the ball over and we don't shoot quickly we seem to execute well in the half court," said Davis. "There were a lot of times where it seemed like we had some opened shots and we didn't shoot it and passed the ball inside. "One thing we've done lately is cut down on turnovers."
Rosewood entertains Ayden-Grifton on Friday while the Bulldogs travel to Spring Creek.