Callahan's Buzzer-Beater Gives Dartmouth Men's Basketball One-Point Win

Feb. 26, 2005

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HANOVER, N.H. - Senior Steve Callahan's (Cincinnati, Ohio) lay-in just before the buzzer capped Senior Night and helped the Dartmouth men's basketball team defeat Ivy League foe Yale, 53-52, on Saturday evening at Leede Arena.

"This is the stuff you dream about," said Callahan, who was participating in his final game at Leede Arena. Callahan said he hadn't played on Senior Night in high school due to injury.

The Big Green set up the game-winning play after missing a shot with nine seconds remaining but forcing a turnover just four seconds later. Senior Mike Liddy (Lake Forest, Ill.) inbounded the ball on the baseline near the Dartmouth bench and found a cutting Callahan, who drove and scooped up a shot that bounced off the rim and in.

"It was a blessing to be able to play tonight," Callahan said. "I'm overwhelmed with emotion right now."

Dartmouth (10-15, 7-5 Ivy) won its 10th game for the first time since 1998-99, which was also the last time the Big Green won five consecutive Ivy games. Dartmouth snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Bulldogs (9-15, 5-6).

Callahan's heroics came after Yale had rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit and forged its first second-half lead with 21 seconds remaining. Edwin Draughan hit the first of two free throws to put the Bulldogs up, 52-51, but missed the second. Yale hit only six of 15 free throw attempts for the game.

With the teams tied 5:27 into the game, Yale embarked on an 8-1 run to forge a seven-point cushion, 16-9, for its largest lead of the contest. Caleb Holmes capped the run with a jumper at 10:10, but that was Yale's final basket until 17 seconds remained in the half.

Dartmouth responded with an 18-0 run, fueled by three 3-pointers from senior Mike McLaren (Memphis, Tenn.), six points from Liddy and a 3-pointer from junior Mike Lang (Chicago, Ill.). The Big Green led at halftime, 33-19.

Yale rallied in the second half behind 59.1 percent field goal shooting and used a 12-2 run to erase a nine-point deficit with nine minutes left and go ahead on Draughan's late free throw.

Dartmouth freshman Johnathan Ball (Memphis, Tenn.) corralled the rebound of Draughan's miss and McLaren misfired with nine seconds left, but Holmes turned the ball over shortly after grabbing the defensive rebound to set the stage for the dramatic finish.

Senior David Gardner (Minnetonka, Minn.) was the high scorer for Dartmouth with 12 points while Liddy contributed five assists.

Draughan finished with 10 points for Yale while Dominick Martin turned in a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

During halftime, Dartmouth honored former Big Green basketball great Rudy LaRusso '59, who passed away last July. The former All-Ivy and All-America selection, who played at Dartmouth from 1956-59, led the Big Green to a pair of NCAA tournament appearance in 1958 and 1959 and set the program's single-game, single-season and career rebounding records. Upon graduation, LaRusso was selected in the NBA draft by the Minneapolis Lakers.

Before the game, the Big Green's four seniors - Callahan, Gardner, Liddy and McLaren - were honored in their final appearance at Leede Arena. "This is an unbelievable group of seniors," Lang said. "From their work ethic to the way they handle themselves on and off the court - every one of them is a leader. They've paved the way for next year."

The Big Green wraps up its basketball season when it travels for a pair of Ivy League games next weekend. Dartmouth opposes Penn on Friday at 7 p.m. and Princeton on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

DARTMOUTH 53, YALE 52

YALE (9-15, 5-6 Ivy)

Martin, Dominick 5-12 2-3 12; Draughan, Edwin 4-8 2-4 10; Gamboa, Alex 3-8 1-2 8; Holmes, Caleb 3-5 0-0 7; Hughes, Casey 3-4 1-3 7; Kaplan, Sam 3-4 0-0 6; Holmes, Nick 1-1 0-3 2; Upshaw, Dexter 0-1 0-0 0; Greenberg, Josh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-43 6-15 52.

DARTMOUTH (10-15, 7-5 Ivy)

Gardner, David 5-9 2-6 12; McLaren, Michael 3-12 0-0 9; Lang, Mike 2-6 2-2 8; Liddy, Michael 2-5 1-1 6; Callahan, Steve 3-3 0-0 6; Ball, Johnathan 2-3 1-2 5; Flynn, Chuck 1-3 1-2 3; Blakley, Jonathan 1-1 0-0 2; Arnold, Calvin 1-4 0-0 2; Bode, Paul 0-2 0-0 0; McMillan, Brian 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 7-13 53.

Yale.......................... 19 33 - 52
Dartmouth..................... 33 20 - 53

3-point goals-Yale 2-8 (Holmes, Caleb 1-3; Gamboa, Alex 1-3; Draughan, Edwin 0-1; Martin, Dominick 0-1), Dartmouth 6-16 (McLaren, Michael 3-10; Lang, Mike 2-3; Liddy, Michael 1-2; Arnold, Calvin 0-1). Fouled out--Yale-None, Dartmouth-None. Rebounds-Yale 34 (Martin, Dominick 13), Dartmouth 23 (Gardner, David 6). Assists-Yale 7 (Gamboa, Alex 2), Dartmouth 12 (Liddy, Michael 5). Total fouls-Yale 15, Dartmouth 16.

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