Jaelin Llewellyn scored 16 points and had a crucial four-point play to help Princeton upset cold-shooting South Carolina 66-62 in the first round of the Asheville Championship tournament Friday night In Asheville, N.C.

Princeton (2-0) will play Minnesota for the tournament championship Sunday. Jermaine Couisnard scored 17 points for the Gamecocks (1-1), who will face Western Kentucky in the consolation game on the same day. South Carolina shot only 4-for-26 (15.4%) from beyond the arc, while Princeton was 11-for-31 (35.5%).

Llewellyn was fouled with 2:42 left while sinking a 3-pointer from the right wing. He made the subsequent free throw to give the Tigers a 61-52 lead.

Couisnard's three-pointer with 52 seconds left cut the Gamecocks' deficit to 61-56. South Carolina got as close as three points twice, the final time at 65-62 on a 3-pointer by Couisnard, but Drew Friberg made 1-of-2 foul shots with five seconds left for Princeton to finally seal the win.

Trailing by six at halftime, South Carolina changed the momentum early in the second half by starting to force turnovers from the patient Tigers' offense. One of these steals led to a Flagrant 1 foul call on Princeton's Llewellyn when he tried to get the ball back from Erik Stevenson. Stevenson made both foul shots to cut Princeton's lead to 33-31 with 15:56 left.

Two more free throws by Stevenson regained the lead for the Gamecocks at 35-33, but Princeton kept pace and back-to-back three-pointers by Ryan Langborg and Zach Martini gave the Tigers a 50-46 lead with 7:33 to go.

South Carolina started fast, building a 19-9 lead on a jumper by Devin Carter with 11:38 left in the half. But Princeton finally got going, as a 3-pointer by Langborg began a 16-2 run that ended with an Ethan Wright 3-pointer with 6:15 left that put the Tigers ahead, 25-21.

Princeton led 31-25 at halftime, and its last basket of the half was a 3 by Llewellyn for a 30-25 lead.

--Field Level Media