The Princeton Tigers played like they missed Prouty Gym early Tuesday night, taking a four-point first quarter lead and playing Kewanee to a 3-point game at the half.

Kewanee, however, spoiled the Tigers’ homecoming in their first home game of the season, outscoring their hosts 23-10 in the third quarter on the way to a 75-60 victory in Three Rivers East play.

“The kids played with effort and heart. One bad quarter again,” Tiger coach Jason Smith said. “Offensively, we were OK for the most part. Defensively, we weren’t good enough the second half.

“We have to try to toughen it out mentally and put four quarters together Friday night (at Hall).”

Princeton senior Gavin Lanham said it was nice to finally get to play a home game, but he was disappointed they couldn’t carry over their first-half play to the second.

“We started off strong, we just couldn’t keep pushing that into the second half,” he said.

Freshman Julian Mucha gave the Tigers a 16-11 lead with back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first quarter. Seniors Lanham, Jackson Mason and Ryan Jagers also struck from behind the arc as the Tigers built a four-point lead at quarter’s end.

Mason scored on a drive off a rebound, and Jagers used a nifty shot fake and drive to keep the Tigers close at 25-24 late in the second quarter with the Boilermakers settling in for a 33-30 halftime lead.

“We expected a battle over here. You can toss all the records and everything out the window,” Kewanee coach Dayton Ince said. “It’s a good old-fashioned rivalry, good basketball, good competitive, good energy in the gym tonight. It was fun.

“We’re a young group with not a lot of experience. We’ll continue to build day by day.”

Then came the decisive third quarter, which saw the Boilermakers stretch their lead from three points to 16.

Chris Cowe and Griff Hicks had 15 of the Boilers’ 23 points in the third quarter, and Isaiah Ince came off the bench for a couple daggers behind the stripe that helped stretch the Boilers’ lead.

“We’re pretty guard-heavy, I would say, so he (Isaiah Ince) probably doesn’t necessarily get the full minutes he’s capable of,” Coach Ince said. “He plays his role, does his job. Steps into that scenario right there. Yeah, I thought he was crucial there as we were going on the run in the third quarter. He had three 3s. That’s everything you want from your kids coming off the bench.”

Lanham said that Ince was off the Tigers’ radar and “we just can’t give anybody open shots.”

Cowe (29) and Hicks (21) combined for 50 of the Boilermakers’ 75 points on the night and Ince chipped in nine, all on three-pointers.

Mucha led the Tigers (3-11, 0-3) with 19 points on five 3s, Lanham finished with 14 and Mason added 12.

Coach Ince was impressed with the freshman Mucha’s game for Princeton.

“From what I’ve watched the last couple games, he’s been playing well. He’s solid,” Ince said. “He shoots it really well. Creates space coming off screens. Does a really good job finding open spots on the floor and then knocking shots down, shooting with confidence.”