Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Douglas Davis scored a career-high 31 points to lead Princeton to a 95-86 victory in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational on Tuesday evening at the Ford Center.
 
Davis hit nine out of 11 shots for the Tigers (20-11, 10-4 Ivy) and was one of four double figure scorers.  Colt Ryan led the way for Evansville (16-16, 9-9 MVC) with 29 points while Ned Cox had 15 and Troy Taylor finished the night with 13, just one off of his career-high.
 
Princeton was red hot to begin the game as they hit six out of their first eight attempts en route to a 14-7 lead.  Colt Ryan helped UE fight its way back into the game scoring nine straight UE points.  Eight minutes in, Ned Cox knocked down his first trey to give the Aces their first lead at 19-18.
 
Thirteen lead changes would take place in the opening period, including several over the next few minutes before Evansville was able to jump out to a solid lead.  With the Tigers up 32-31, UE went on a 10-3 run to open up a 41-35 edge.
 
That quickly went away inside of three minutes left in the half as Princeton scored seven in a row to retake a 42-41 lead.  They would keep that advantage, heading into halftime up by a point, 48-47.  Ryan led all scorers with 21 first-half points while Cox had ten.
 
Accurate shooting was the story in the second half as both teams combined to hit their first nine shots.  The Aces connected on their first five to open the period 13-7 stretch and take a 60-55 lead, but that was short-lived as a quick 5-point spurt by the Tigers tied the game back up.  Douglas Davis hit a trey to improve to 4-5 from long range to start the contest.
 
The nip-and-tuck affair continued as the Aces and Tigers would wrestle the lead back and forth a total of an amazing 27 times in the contest.  With just four minutes remaining, Kenneth Harris hit a pair of free throws to give UE an 83-81 edge.  That would mark the last lead of the night for Evansville as Princeton would wrap up the contest on a 12-1 stretch as Douglas Davis would score the final ten points of the night for the Tigers.
 
Princeton’s defense held UE to 0-5 from the floor in the final four minutes as Davis clinched the win with a 6-6 performance from the charity stripe in the last minute.
 
Ian Hummer notched 18 points along with a game-high eight rebounds for Princeton.  With his effort on Tuesday, he became the first Tiger since 1972 to score 500 or more points in a season.  His performance also helped the Tigers hold a 28-22 edge on the boards.
 
Denver Holmes, Kenneth Harris and Matt Peeler each wrapped up their college careers on Tuesday.  Holmes notched four points and finished his tenure at UE with 975.  Harris notched eight points, six boards and five assists while Peeler completed his 2-year career.