Victory Snatched Away from Men in Final Minute by Quinnipiac, 76-74

Wednesday, December 17

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

2-6

QUINNIPIAC

6-3

Quinnipiac

Dartmouth

Victory Snatched Away from Men in Final Minute by Quinnipiac, 76-74

12/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. ? After Dartmouth rallied back from a 11-point second half deficit, visiting Quinnipiac scored the final seven points to escape Leede Arena with a 76-74 triumph on Wednesday evening. James Feldeine tallied a career-high 29 points for the Bobcats (6-3), which won their third straight game. Senior Alex Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.), who became the 25th player in Big Green history to score 1,000 points, countered with 24 for Dartmouth (2-6).

Quinnipiac, trailing 74-69 with barely a minute to play, got a bucket from Justin Rutty and immediately called a timeout to set up its defense. The ploy worked as Feldeine came up with a steal and on the ensuing scramble for the ball, James Johnson was fouled, sending him to the line. He calmly hit both free throws to cut the deficit to one.

A defensive stop led to a quick layup by Rutty with 33 ticks on the clock for a one-point Bobcat lead at 75-74. Dartmouth had a chance to win the game, but Barnett's shot would not fall. Rutty grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 2.9 seconds to play. Rutty, a 44 percent free throw shooter this year, was shaken up on the play, allowing the Bobcats to substitute Steve Robinson to shoot the foul shots.

Robinson hit only the second, leaving a glimmer of hope for the Big Green. But a desperation heave by sophomore Ronnie Dixon (Danville, Ill.) at the buzzer from halfcourt smacked high off the backboard.

Feldeine hit 11-of-20 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from long range, plus 4-of-5 at the line to account for his career night, with 22 of his 29 points coming in the first half. Rutty came up just short of a double-double with 17 points and nine boards, while Johnson chipped in 12 points.

Barnett achieved the career milestone with 4:30 to play thanks to a feed in traffic from freshman point guard Jabari Trotter (Northridge, Calif.), dropping in the layup to cut the Quinnipiac lead to just two. Dixon poured in a career-high 18 points with four trifectas, while Trotter not only scored 15, but also led the team with five rebounds.

Quinnipiac had a decisive edge on the boards, grabbing 46 caroms to just 30 for the Big Green.

Trailing 58-47 with 10 minutes to play, the Big Green gradually drew closer to the Bobcats. A three-pointer by Dixon with just over six minutes left put Dartmouth within four at 62-58. Although Feldeine answered with a traditional three-point play, Dixon came right back by driving to the hoop for two points.

Rutty was fouled on the next possession and managed to hit one of his two freebies. That's when Dartmouth put together a 9-0 spurt, fueled by Trotter who had two layups and the assist on Barnett's 1,000th point. He capped the run with a long three to give the Big Green a 69-66 lead, their first lead since the score was 17-15 in the middle of the first half.

A three-point play for Johnson tied the score again with 2:20 on the clock, but Barnett came through with a three-point play of his own 15 seconds later. A Dixon rebound at the other end led to another driving layup for the guard and a five-point lead, setting up Quinnipiac's comeback.

Dartmouth does not play again until after Christmas when it heads to California for the Golden Bear Classic at Cal-Berkeley. The Big Green will play the host Bears on Dec. 27 at 1 p.m. (PST), then either Air Force or Portland the following day. Quinnipiac heads home to square off against Vermont on Sunday at noon.