SENIOR MOMENT: Princeton University men’s basketball player Clay Wilson looks for an opening last Saturday night as the Tigers hosted Columbia in their final regular season home game. Coming up big on his Senior Night, Wilson hit a key three-pointer down the stretch to help Princeton rally to an 85-83 win over the Lions. Princeton, which improved to 15-14 overall and 8-5 Ivy League with the victory, was slated to end regular season play with a game at Penn on March 10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Clay Wilson has distinguished himself as a deadeye outside shooter over his four seasons with the Princeton University men’s basketball team.

Coming into the regular season home finale against Columbia last Saturday evening, senior guard Wilson had hit 39 percent (39-of-100) of his three-pointers this winter.

So it was fitting that when Princeton needed a big basket as it fought back from a nine-point deficit with less than two minutes to go in regulation, Wilson delivered by draining a long three from the corner to narrow the gap to 83-82. The Tigers went on to close the deal, pulling out an 85-83 win over the Lions as a crowd of 2,363 at Jadwin Gym roared its approval.

“Ben (Hazel) actually had the ball in front and I was calling for it early,” said Wilson, recalling his big bucket.

“Nobody was really with me so I told him three seconds before he threw it to throw me the ball. I ran to the corner and the guy bit on the pump fake and I put the shot in. It is a big win for our team and I was happy that we could send all of our seniors out the right way.”

Hitting the Jadwin Gym court for the final time in game action, Wilson was pumped up.

“For me, it was very emotional, being senior night and all,” said Wilson, a 6’3, 170-pound native of Tulsa, Okla. “I have had a long four years. We didn’t accomplish our goal of winning the title in my four years but the friendships we made, the people we connected with, and the relationships we made with the people at Princeton will be something I remember forever. It was pretty emotional.”

Fellow senior Hazel, for his part, is leaving with special memories of the Jadwin finale.

“It is a bittersweet moment for us, you don’t spend too much time being in the spotlight here as an individual,” said Hazel, who scored all nine of his points on the evening in the second half rally.

“Even as a team, we go as a committee so one person might be in the spotlight tonight and then somebody else will be in the spotlight tomorrow. This is our moment, which was pretty cool; especially starting the game with all of the seniors out there. Just being able to go up and down one more time on the court was a good time and getting the win in the fashion that we did was something to remember.”

With 2:00 remaining in the game, it didn’t look like the Tigers were headed to a win as they trailed 83-74. But putting together a 11-0 run, they were able rally for the win and improve to 15-14 overall and 8-5 Ivy League.

Junior forward Han Brase played a key role in the comeback, scoring a team-high 23 points and pulling down a team-high six rebounds.

“We have been practicing that scenario a while, there were a lot of games where we have been down and we have just been working on it,” said Brase. “We were just trying to stay cool, calm, and collected, get a stop, get an easy bucket and then just continue to get stops and easy shots. It just clicked for us tonight.”

The 6’8, 231-pound Brase got the game-winning bucket as he bulled in for a lay-up with 15 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 84-83.

“All week, the coaches were harping on me to be more aggressive in the paint,” said Brase.

“I felt like they weren’t really helping much on defense tonight so it was a one-on-one game and I was able to get a couple of edges and finish around the rim. When they cut me off, I was able to kick it out to teammates. They helped me out because every tine I kicked it out, they made 3s. The other team knows they can’t help on me and they go back to one-on-one.”

The Tigers were almost shot down by Columbia junior star Maodo Lo, who scored a career-high 37 points, hitting on 12-of-18 shots, including 11-of-15 from the three-point range.

Princeton head coach Henderson acknowledged that Lo was a major thorn in the side for the Tigers.

“First of all, that was an incredible performance by Maodo Lo,” said Henderson of Lo, whose 11 three-pointers were an Ivy League single-game record. “There are regular shots and there is like his beautiful artistic three-point shot which I felt was like a layup tonight. When he made his 11th  three on us in the corner, I remember thinking to myself, sometimes it is just not your night.”

Lo almost won the game as he fired up a three-pointer that just bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

“It felt like CYO Rec League basketball there at one point, it was let’s try this one,” said Henderson.

“There was nothing we could do, that was the best performance I think I have ever seen by a college basketball player. Fortunately the last shot he took, there was a little Jadwin prayer made it bounce out. It was just lucky that he missed.”

Henderson was proud of his team’s performance down the stretch. “We just kept talking about going to the rim and being aggressive,” said Henderson. “I think you had to get some stops eventually. It was just such a high scoring game, it was incredible.”

For Henderson, seeing the team’s four seniors, Bobby Garbade, Daniel Edwards, Hazel, and Wilson end on a high note in their final Jadwin appearance was special.

“I am really proud of the seniors; I thought Bobby and Dan starting the game gave us a good lift,” said Henderson.

“Clay made a huge three in the corner. I don’t know if anyone could say that they were stopping Lo but Ben did a good enough job there to change a little bit of the flow that he had. Ben was really poised. I thought he made a couple of big layups once we got down eight. He understands how to do it and that’s what you need from seniors. It hasn’t been a group that has seen a lot of playing time … but they are down here every single day. Nobody sees that. It is a really great group to be around.”

It was great for Brase to come up big down low when the Tigers needed him. “This season when Hans has struggled from the three-point line, which he did tonight, we have struggled,” said Henderson.

“But he found a way, that is the sign of a good player. He is changing right in front of our eyes. He is going to the rim, which we need him to do.”

With Princeton having won three straight games with the victory over Columbia, Henderson likes how his players have been keeping their noses to the grindstone.

“Practices have been really good,” said Henderson, whose team was slated to wrap up the regular season with a game at Penn on March 10.

“We had a really tough loss at Yale, we had a really tough loss at Harvard. Those are the top two teams in our league and I thought we were right there with both of them. We just couldn’t finish the game so this is a nice win for us. We have a really tough test on Tuesday.”

Wilson, for his part, is savoring Princeton’s nice finish. “I feel like we had some stretches where we let a couple games go,” said Wilson, who ended the Columbia game with six points and now has 387 in his Princeton career.

“I think for the most part this year, we have played a solid 70 out of 80 minutes for each weekend but we had a spurt for 10 minutes where we just let things slip. I feel like this past weekend, we put the 80 minutes together. I feel like our team is really jelling right now. We are a team where the spotlight doesn’t stay on one person too often. Everyone is able and capable to step up and make big shots and help our team out. It was good for the team to get the ‘w’.”