PRINCETON — The Princeton men’s basketball team’s first Garden State test put the Tigers through a physical war of attrition. While the Tigers were in danger of losing at Jadwin Gymnasium for only the second time this season, they ultimately made enough plays down the stretch to survive with a 71-67 win Tuesday night over Monmouth. The game had a whopping 25 lead changes as the teams traded blows before Princeton (8-4) took the lead for good when Xaivian Lee drove and kicked off to Blake Peters for a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining. “It is very stressful playing in those types of games, but at the same time it’s fun and it’s needed to a certain extent because when you we into the (Ivy) League, there’s gonna be six or seven games just like that,” Peters said. “We view that as practice. Their record is what it is, but tonight they certainly played like a team that’s much better than what their record would suggest.” Peters, a senior guard, has adjusted to coming off the bench more with season and shined as the sixth man against Monmouth (1-10) with 14 points, three rebounds and no turnovers in 30 minutes. “It’s something I’ve done before and I told them I’m comfortable in,” Peters said. “This is my senior year, so I’ve got two goals. One of them is play in the tournament (NCAA) and one of them is to win the league (Ivy), and I’m gonna help the team do that however I can.” Lee led Princeton with 23 points — including two clutch free throws to make it a four-point game with 3.9 seconds left — plus had six assists, five rebounds, three steals and one block. Dalen Davis also reached double figures with 11 points. “I thought as a team we did a good job staying composed; for myself, too,” Lee said. “I feel like in a game like that last year, if I maybe back-rimmed three 3s where I felt like were (going in), I would kind of shut down a little bit. So I was happy to see myself still be able to take control and stay confident at the end of the game because my teammates and our coaching staff trust me to make those plays.” Monmouth (1-10), which has played all 11 of its games away from home this season, came close to an upset win largely because of hot shooting from Abdi Bashir Jr., who led all scorers with 26 points and at one point in the second half had more than half of the Hawks’ points. The exceptionally lanky guard — standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 160 pounds — converted 8 of 15 field goals including 5 of 10 from 3. But Bashir made a crucial mistake when he stepped out of bounds with 4.8 seconds left while dribbling up the right sideline with Monmouth trailing by only two points. Malik Abdullahi defended Bashir on that last play, but Peters was the primary defender throughout the game. “I thought guarding Bashir really helped me lock in,” Peters said. “I appreciate the coaches for letting me do that. It gives me a lot of confidence that they believe in me to guard someone like that, and I think the team, when we’re locked in defensively, that translates back into offense.” Princeton played solid defense overall, limiting Monmouth to 37.5 percent field goal shooting while outrebounding the Hawks, 30-26. Princeton did commit 13 turnovers, however, and that’s one of the areas that Henderson wants to clean up in practice. “I didn’t recognize us tonight in a lot of ways, and that starts with me, but we’re gonna have to trickle it down so that I can help them more and it’s more clear, and they feel good about executing for one another,” Henderson said. “It starts through the offense, connectedness, just in the way that we play. We’re getting better … but I would like to see the ball pop more so that they’re playing together more.” The Princeton players begin an exam period on Saturday, so they will go 11 days before their next game against Rutgers on Dec. 21 in the Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark. That makes it a bit more challenging to schedule practices, but the Tigers won’t make excuses. “We want to play Rutgers, we want to play Seton Hall,” Henderson said. “If they say we want to play on this date, we’re gonna play.” Rutgers (6-4) has gotten off to a sluggish start defensively but features two of the nation’s top players in future NBA lottery picks Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Princeton will also get to reunite with Zach Martini, who transferred to Rutgers for his graduate year. “The New Jersey games people get up for, especially when people play us,” Peters said. “They’re always giving us their best shot.”