PAYING THE PRICE: Amir Bell heads upcourt this winter in his freshman season with the Princeton University men’s basketball team. This summer, point guard Bell is honing his skills by playing for the T. Rowe Price team in the newly-formed Victory Sports Pro-Am summer basketball league. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Playing for the T. Rowe Price team on opening night last Thursday in the newly-formed Victory Sports Pro-Am summer basketball league, Amir Bell displayed his competitive fire.

The rising sophomore guard for the Princeton University men’s basketball hit the floor hard at the Hun School gym, diving for loose balls and intensely going to the hoop.

Bell’s grit and 11 points, though weren’t enough as T. Rowe Price fell 77-64 to P.E.M.G.

Afterward, Bell showed another side of his competitive nature as he glumly assessed the defeat.

“We didn’t play defense down the stretch; we missed a lot of shots that we were making in the first half,” said a frowning Bell.

“We have to keep pushing through when we get tired. We should have won that game. That is what summer league is for, to get better at things like that so we have to continue working.”

Bell is looking forward to pushing himself in the summer league. “You get to play, make sure you stay fresh and solid until the season comes,” said Bell. “It should be a really good opportunity, really good competition.”

With incoming Princeton freshmen hoops players Myles Stephens, Devin Cannady, and Noah Bramlage, joining Bell on the T. Rowe Price roster, he is getting the opportunity to take his new teammates under his wing.

“We are trying to build some chemistry, teach them some things that will happen during the season,” said Bell. “We want to help them out, make them run parts of the system.”

Coming off a superb debut campaign, Bell is looking to build up his game individually.

“I have been working on my midrange jump shot and my three-point game,” said Bell, a 6’3, 160-pound native of East Brunswick who averaged 8.8 points a game as a freshman and dished out 77 assists. “I want to be a better leader and a better communicator with my teammates next year.”

Bell and the Tigers are poised to do better than last winter when they posted an overall record of 16-14 and went 9-5 in Ivy League play.

“It should be a really big year for us, trying to bring momentum that we gain over the summer into the season,” said Bell.

“We have a lot of guys who are back and have some experience. We are hungry and we have pretty big expectations for ourselves. It should be fun.”