Leads Slips Away in Final Seconds, Men Fall in Overtime

Monday, December 19

Hamilton, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-8

Colgate

5-5

OT 1

Dartmouth

Colgate

Leads Slips Away in Final Seconds, Men Fall in Overtime

12/19/2011 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HAMILTON, N.Y. — Leading by three with 6.3 seconds left, Dartmouth could not close out the road win at Colgate as the Raiders managed to tie the game in regulation and defeat the Big Green in overtime at Cotterell Court on Monday evening, 61-55. Colgate (5-5) remains a perfect 4-0 at home with the win, while Dartmouth (3-8) was denied its first winning streak since February of 2009.

Freshman Jvonte Brooks provided 12 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for his second career double-double for Dartmouth, while senior Jabari Trotter added 11 points. But Colgate countered with Yaw Gyawu with a game-high 16 points, while the Raiders sank 23-of-34 at the line in a game that featured 53 fouls between the two teams.

Colgate trailed by two with less than 10 seconds left, but looked to be in dire straits when Sterling Melville was called for traveling. Trotter was fouled on the inbounds play, giving him an opportunity to make it a two-possession game with 6.3 ticks remaining. After missing the first, he was able to sink the second for a three-point lead at 48-45.

The Raiders did not get the opportunity to tie the game with a three-pointer as Dartmouth head coach Paul Cormier had his squad foul Mitch Rolls as he brought the ball up the floor. Rolls hit the first of two free throws, then purposely missed the second. Melville powered his way into the lane and grabbed the rebound, then was fouled by Brooks (his fifth) trying to tie the game with a layup. He redeemed his earlier travel by sinking both foul shots, the second of which took several bounces before dropping through the rim, and the Big Green's desperation three at the buzzer was off the mark to send the game into overtime.

The tap was won by Colgate, and Nick Pascale immediately got three points the hard way. Gwayu then hit 1-of-2 at the line for a four-point Raider lead. Twice Dartmouth cut the lead down to two with a pair of free throws, first by senior David Rufful, then by Trotter. But the Big Green, which shot a season-low 27.1 percent (16-of-59) from the floor, could not get anything to fall as Colgate converted 7-of-10 freebies in the final minute. A moot three-pointer by freshman Mack McKearney with 5.5 seconds to play was just the fourth field goal for the Green in the final 19 minutes of action.

Dartmouth began the game in a similar manner to the last 19 minutes, connecting on just three field goals and scoring nine total points in the first 15 minutes. But its defense never let the Raiders get too far ahead. After a three-pointer by Colgate's Matt McMullen, the host owned its largest lead of the night at eight, 14-6.

On three straight trips to the line, Dartmouth managed to convert the second of two foul shots before Trotter drained a three-pointer with just under five minutes left until halftime to make it a 14-12 contest. After Gyawu sank a short jumper in the lane, sophomore Tyler Melville (the younger brother of Colgate's Sterling Melville) stripped the ball on the next Raider possession and dished off to streaking freshman John Golden for a layup on the break. Melville took it upon himself to put Dartmouth on top for the first time when he drained a three next time down the court for a one-point edge at 17-16.

Gyawu immediately scored again, but two consecutive three-balls by junior R.J. Griffin gave the Green a five-point lead. Rolls provided Colgate with a triple just before the buzzer sounded, however, to make it a 23-21 Dartmouth lead at the intermission.

In the second half, the two teams traded buckets before the Big Green rattled off six straight points, the first three on a long-range bomb by Griffin. Junior Matt LaBove capped the short spurt with a baseline jumper, then maintained that eight-point edge at 33-25 with another hoop with 14:01 to play.

Colgate came back with six straight points and eventually tied the score twice, only to fall behind by four after each deadlock. The second time was due to a three-point play by Brooks to make the score 45-41 with 3:03 remaining in the game. Three foul shots whittled the lead down to one again before Rufful connected from 12 feet. Pascale hit 1-of-2 at the line with 1:25 left, and the score remained at 47-45 until Trotter stepped to the line with 6.3 seconds to go.

The Big Green turned the ball over a season-low eight times while forcing 14 at the other end, but the Raiders beat Dartmouth on the boards, 46-36. Colgate entered the game shooting better than 40 percent on three-pointers, but managed just 2-of-11 (.182) and 18-of-47 (.383) overall. The big advantage for the Raiders came at the charity stripe where they sank 11-of-15 in the overtime period. Dartmouth was 16-of-27 (.593) for the game at the stripe.

Brooks was one of four Big Green players to foul out on the night as Dartmouth was called for 29 fouls compared to 24 for Colgate.

Dartmouth continues its tour of the state of New York on Wednesday when it travels to West Point to take on Army at 4 p.m. Colgate has one more game before Christmas, at Hofstra on Thursday at 7 p.m.