No. 1-ranked Dogs avoid Gators' upset bid

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on January 30, 2011 1:51 AM

• Print
• Email

PRINCETON -- Spring Creek had Princeton on the ropes.

The Dawgs battled back in the fourth quarter and kept their undefeated season intact. Ben Jacobs finished one assist shy of a triple-double and No. 1-ranked Princeton claimed a 68-63 win on the Carolina 1-A Conference scene on Friday night.

"I told the guys before the game that every game we play gets bigger and bigger," said Princeton head coach Jeff Davis. "Every time we play we are going to get the other teams' best effort. Spring Creek played really hard tonight for 32 minutes."

After a back-and-forth first half, the Gators came out fired up in the third quarter and raced out to a 48-41 lead. With Deshar Thomas handling the point and Adam Haggerty taking advantage of a thin Princeton front line plagued with foul trouble, the Gators appeared to be in position for an upset.

"We showed a lot of good things tonight and I think we finally played to our potential in that third quarter," said Spring Creek head coach Taylor Jones. "I wanted our guys to come out and battle, and show Princeton that we were capable of giving them a game."

The fourth quarter belonged to the Dawgs and point guard C.J. Jeffreys.

After sitting the entire second and third quarter in foul trouble. Jeffreys entered the game and made an immediate impact. A long three-point shot and a pair of steals that led to layups gave Princeton the lead for good with five minutes to play.

Jeffreys scored all 13 of his points in the final six minutes.

"C.J. was huge for us down the stretch," said Davis. "He sat for so long that we were really out of synch on offense in the second half until he came back."

Jacobs paced the Dawgs (18-0 overall, 5-0 CC) with 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Wes Wood added 17 points and five rebounds.

Haggerty led the Gators offense with 14 points. Thomas added 12 points and Rashawn Edwards finished with 11 points.

Spring Creek plays host to Ayden-Grifton on Tuesday, while Princeton is the guest of North Duplin.