Princeton's Powerhouse Pushes Past Brown in Ivy Thriller

The roar of the crowd at the sold-out Levien Gymnasium reached a fever pitch as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The Princeton Tigers, top seeds and defending champions of the Ivy League tournament, had just secured a hard-fought 78-71 victory over the scrappy Brown Bears in the opening round.

Leading the charge for the Tigers was sophomore sensation Xaivian Lee. The 6'4" guard was unstoppable, slicing through the Brown defense with an array of creative moves and pouring in a game-high 27 points on an efficient 10-17 shooting. His court vision was also on full display, dishing out 6 assists to keep the Princeton offense humming.

“Xaivian was simply tremendous tonight,” praised Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson. “He’s taken his game to another level this year and is playing with incredible poise and confidence. When he’s rolling like that, we’re tough to stop.”

While Lee provided the stellar individual performance, Princeton’s team-wide commitment to defense was the true difference maker. The Tigers clamped down on Brown’s typically potent three-point shooting, holding them to just 5-21 (23.8%) from beyond the arc.

“Our scouting report focused heavily on running them off the line and contesting everything,” said Henderson. “They have so many capable shooters, if you give them an inch of daylight, they’ll burn you. Our guys did a fantastic job staying disciplined and making them earn every look.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Bears, who had won 6 straight entering the tournament. Despite the loss, head coach Mike Martin remained encouraged by his team’s resilience and fight.

“Obviously it’s disappointing that our run came to an end tonight, but I couldn’t be prouder of how our guys competed,” said Martin. “We dug ourselves a big early hole against one of the elite teams in the country, but clawed our way back and made it a barnburner till the very end.”

Indeed, Brown found themselves in an 18-point deficit midway through the second half before mounting a furious rally. Junior guard Kino Lilly Jr., who led the Bears with 25 points, simply took over, knocking down four threes in the span of three minutes to slice the Princeton lead to just 4 with two minutes remaining.

“Kino is one of the most dangerous scorers in the nation,” acknowledged Henderson. “We had him bottled up for the most part, but guys like that only need a tiny crack to go off. He singlehandedly got them back in it and made us sweat down the stretch.”

Ultimately, Princeton’s poise and experience allowed them to close out the game from the free throw line. As the Tigers move on to the semifinals, they’ll look to keep their tournament dominance going while chasing a third straight Ivy League crown.

“Tonight was a great test for us against a very game Brown squad,” said Henderson. “But we have bigger goals in mind. This was just the first step in hopefully securing another championship.”

For the Bears, their season is over, but a return to the Ivy League tournament leaves them optimistic about taking another step forward next year.

“The ultimate goal is to take home that trophy,” said Martin. “We showed tonight that we can hang with anyone in this league when we’re playing our best ball. This postseason experience, as tough as it was to swallow the loss, will only help accelerate our growth. Brown basketball is on the rise, bank on that.”

As Princeton celebrated with the home fans that stuck around, the message was clear: the Tigers are still the team to beat in the Ancient Eight. But if others want to dispute that status, they’ll need to find an answer for Princeton’s triple-threat of offensive firepower, lockdown defense and championship pedigree.