Another Overtime Victory for Men's Basketball

Friday, February 6

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

5-14, 3-2Ivy

BROWN

6-13, 0-5Ivy

OT 1

Brown

Dartmouth

Another Overtime Victory for Men's Basketball

2/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. ? Backed by 28 points from senior Alex Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.), the Dartmouth men's basketball team was able to pull out a 63-61 overtime victory over visiting Brown in front of a raucous crowd of 966 at Leede Arena on Friday evening. The Big Green (5-14, 3-2 Ivy) have won consecutive games for the first time this season and four straight overtime games dating back to 2007, including two this season. The Bears (6-13, 0-5 Ivy) turned the ball over three times in their final four possessions in losing their fifth straight contest.

Six of Dartmouth's eight points in the extra period came from the free throw line, but not without some drama. Trailing by two with 2:31 to play, junior Robby Pride (Denver, Colo.) was fouled, but failed to knock down either free throw. The Big Green got a defensive stop, however, and senior Marlon Sanders (Cleveland, Ohio) tied the score at 59 with a pair of foul shots with 1:30 on the clock.

A Brown turnover allowed Pride to redeem himself, driving down the heart of the lane and hitting the layup for a two-point Dartmouth lead. Matt Mullery responded for the Bears with a layup of his own at the other end, tying the game at 61 with 48 seconds to play.

The hero in the victory over Penn last Saturday, senior Dan Biber (Lorain, Ohio), had not scored all night, but went to the line to shoot two with 11 ticks on the clock. He made the first before missing the second. Brown called a timeout to set up their offense, but Pride foiled its plans by stealing the ball with 2.8 seconds left. He managed to hit one of his two free throws this time, and another Dartmouth steal by freshman David Rufful (Warwick, R.I.) sealed the victory.

Neither team shot better than 40 percent in the game, but the Big Green did drill seven three-pointers in 17 attempts (.412), thanks to 5-of-8 behind the arc by Barnett. For the game he hit 11-of-21 from the floor to record his fourth straight 20-point game for the first time in his career.

The five Bear starters all played 40 or more minutes and scored all 61 of their points. Both Scott Friske and Matt Mullery posted double-doubles ? Friske had a team-high 19 points with 13 boards while Mullery pitched in 12 points and 13 more rebounds. Peter Sullivan contributed 18 points with a pair of trifectas.

Brown had its chances at the charity stripe in the overtime period as well, but managed to convert just two out of five. The Bears had a chance for a five-point play at the start of overtime thanks to a technical foul on Dartmouth after a bucket and a foul. But of the three foul shots, only one would fall through the hoop, keeping the game a one-possession contest.

It was Barnett that forced overtime with a triple from the right corner and just under a minute to play, tying the game at 55. Twenty of Barnett's points came in the second half, while the rest of the team managed just eight points in the stanza.

Brown trailed for more than 15 minutes in the second half, but two free throws by Mullery gave Brown its first lead since halftime with a pair of free throws. Although Dartmouth missed a shot, the Bears had to inbound the ball following the rebound, only to have Barnett steal the pass and hit a six-footer in the lane to tie the game at 52.

Chris Skrelja put Brown back on top with a pair of foul shots with 1:41 on the clock, and 25 seconds later Sullivan added another setting up Barnett's game-tying three.

Dartmouth started the game with a flurry, hitting its first four shots while taking an early six-point lead, the largest lead of the half. But Brown would not let the Big Green pull away, and after nearly 10 minutes, took its first lead of the game at 16-15 on a Sullivan layup.

After Dartmouth freshman Jabari Trotter (Northridge, Calif.) and Sullivan traded three-pointers, the Green scored six straight points, five from Barnett. The Bears responded with a quick spurt of their own, tallying the next seven, all from Friske, to give Brown a 26-24 lead.

The game remained a one-possession game into the half with Dartmouth trailing by a point, 28-27. With the victory, the Big Green won their first game this season when trailing at the half having been 0-10 entering the night.

Brown enjoyed a big edge on the boards, 47-37, and at the free throw line, getting 27 attempts to just 15 for Dartmouth. Neither team shot well from the stripe, however, with the Bears at 59.3 percent (16-of-27) and the Green at 53.3 percent (8-of-15). Ten of Dartmouth's free throw attempts came in the overtime period.

The six-foot Pride hit the boards hard, corraling a career-high eight rebounds while senior center Kurt Graeber (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) grabbed seven boards. While no other Big Green player scored in double figures, both Pride and Rufful tallied eight.

Both teams continue Ivy play tomorrow night with Dartmouth hosting Yale (8-11, 3-2 Ivy) at 7 p.m. and Brown traveling to Harvard (9-10, 1-4 Ivy) for a game at 7 p.m. as well.