Princeton men’s basketball salvages Myrtle Beach Invitational finale; No. 24 Rutgers knocked off at Kennesaw State
Nov 24, 2024
CONWAY, S.C. — The Princeton men’s basketball team salvaged its final game at the Myrtle Beach Invitational with a 94-67 victory over Portland in the seventh-place game on Sunday morning at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina.
In a game in which coach Mitch Henderson got everybody minutes, freshman CJ Happy led all Tigers with 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Happy made seven of his nine field goal attempts and connected on a pair of 3s.
Caden Pierce finished with 15 points, Blake Peters netted 14 and Malik Abdullahi added 10 as Princeton (5-3) snapped a two-game skid after dropping the first two contests to Wright State and Texas State.
The Tigers attempted 44 3-pointers and made 16 for a 36.3% connect rate. They made eight in each half and led, 52-29, at halftime as both teams emptied their benches in the second half.
Vukasin Masic and Mikah Ballew scored 12 points each for the Pilots (2-5).
Kennesaw State 79, No. 24 Rutgers 77
KENNESAW, Ga. — Jamil Miller had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and the Owls (5-1) held off the No. 24 Scarlet Knights (4-1) to win in the first home game against a ranked opponent in the program’s history.
Kennesaw State was up by as many as 21 points and led for all but about seven minutes at the beginning of the game. Simeon Cottle had 15 points and Ricardo Wright scored 14.
Rutgers fought back in the second half with strong efforts from freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, who finished with 21 and 17 points, respectively.
The Scarlet Knights opened up the second half with a 10-0 run and shot 50% from the field after halftime but could never take the lead, coming as close as two points in the final seconds of the game.
Women’s Basketball
VCU 75, Rider 60
RICHMOND, Va. — Timaya Lewis-Eutsey scored 15 points, Valentina Ojeda had 12 and the Rams (3-2) ran past the Broncs (1-4). Gabby Turco netted a game-high 18 points for Rider, which won the second half by six, but had already fallen behind by 21 at halftime.