Princeton rallies from doubledigit deficit to stun Monmouth
WEST LONG BRANCH >> Devin Cannady lives for these moments.
Already one of 35 1,000-point scorers in Princeton history and on pace to secure the school’s all-time record for 3-pointers, the senior guard was not going to let a skittish start deter him from doing what he does best.
Cannady connected on 4-of-4 treys in the final 4:49 to finish with a game-high 21 points and lift Princeton to a 60-57, come-from-behind win Saturday against Monmouth at OceanFirst Bank Center.
“It’s so funny. Every time we go to the bench for timeouts and medias, all my teammates on the bench (say), ‘Keep shooting, Devin. Keep shooting,’” Cannady said. “When you have that kind of trust and Myles (Stephens’) ability to be at the rim and Jose (Morales) coming off ball screens … it opens shots up for me. I was off definitely for the first half, and then when you see a couple go in, at least for me, at least one shot go in, then you build that confidence.”
For Princeton (2-2), it was a character-building win on a day it played far from its best basketball. The Tigers were sluggish offensively, shooting 38.9 percent overall from the field and getting to the foul line nearly half as many times (13 to 25) as Monmouth (0-7).
Trailing by as many as 12, the Tigers rallied from a 47-37 deficit with 8:58 left for their first win of the year against Division I competition coming off two losses to Lehigh and Fairleigh Dickinson.
“We’re thrilled. This is a really good win for us,” head coach Mitch Henderson said. “Both programs needed a win. I feel for (Monmouth coach) King (Rice) and his staff. They’re working hard, they played really well, but I thought we made a couple big and key plays down the stretch. … We really needed to come together today and get a win.”
Senior 6-foot-5 guard Myles Stephens was Princeton’s heartbeat defensively, corralling nine rebounds and blocking two shots to go along with 13 points.
With 4:08 left, Stephens grabbed a defensive board and went coast-to-coast for a layup to pull Princeton within 49-50. Cannady gave the Tigers their first lead with a 3-pointer on their ensuing possession.
Cannady connected from deep again to tie the game at 55 with 2:08 remaining, then after Morales drew an offensive foul on Monmouth in the paint, Cannady came off a screen and drilled his fifth triple for the game-winner.
“Bad coaching on me,” King said. “I probably should’ve said, ‘Their star is going to shoot it every time. Don’t let him shoot. Maybe make him get inside the three-point line.’ But I didn’t say that so he shot them and he made them, and I will coach better next game.”
Louie Pillari paced four Monmouth players who scored double figures with 13 points. With 17 seconds left, Deion Hammond drew a foul from beyond the arc but missed the second of three free throws, so Monmouth had to put Princeton on the line before getting one last possession.
Cannady made both free throws in front of a raucous crowd of 2,050, and with no timeouts, Monmouth raced up the floor and fumbled the ball around before Mustapha Traore’s last-second heave fell short.
“We actually were trying to foul them and put them on the line so they could shoot two free throws and we would still be up, but we didn’t do that correctly,” Stephens said. “We were just trying to play solid D, pick them up, no open shots, no fouls, which was kind of hard to do — fouling them down the stretch.”
Princeton received a key lift from Morales, a 5-foot-9 guard and Hun School product who provided 10 points, six assists and four steals in his second game back from injury.
“No one can reach his level of competitiveness. He’s a dog on defense,” Cannady said. “I don’t think Myles and I have played with a guy like Jose in our four years. So having him healthy and at the high level that he plays at is amazing. It definitely helps our defense.”
Princeton certainly scrapped on that end of the floor to remain in striking distance despite scoring only 20 points in the first half. Monmouth had 17 turnovers and shot 38.1 percent on field goals for the game.
Deploying a 2-3 zone defense with occasional fullcourt pressure and trapping, Monmouth held Princeton without a point for 9:04 late in the first half.
The Tigers managed to trail by only seven at halftime thanks to a 5-0 spurt in the final minute. Cannady buried his first 3-pointer on his sixth attempt, and Ethan Wright scored at the buzzer with an offensive rebound and a layup.
“Honestly, I thought they were doing great,” Henderson said. “We couldn’t score, but I thought we were doing great and I just said (at halftime), ‘You’re doing great.’ And then we came out really well to start the second half and then we struggled again. But it’s one of those wins, I hope that I’m right, but I really feel like it’s a gutsy win and it’s gonna propel our group forward in a really cool way.”