Dartmouth Ready for First Postseason Game in 56 Years

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT INFORMATION at CANISIUS GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Date & Time	Wednesday, March 18, 7 p.m.	Dartmouth	Stats	Canisius
Location	Buffalo, N.Y.	14-14, 7-7	Record	16-14, 11-9
Arena (Capacity)	Koessler Athletic Center (2,196)	Won 5	Streak	Lost 1
All-Time Series	Big Green lead 3-2 // Last Meeting: Dartmouth 61, Canisius 58 (Dec. 27, 1968)	63.0	Scoring	64.2
Tickets	Information	.436	FG%	.402
Broadcast	CollegeInsider.com (video) // 99Rock WFRD (radio) - Drew Galbraith play-by-play	.351	3FG%	.315
Logistics	Directions // Seating Chart	.646	FT%	.710
Twitter	@DartmouthMBK // @DartmouthSports	+1.0	Reb Margin	+0.2
Dartmouth Links	Home // Roster // Schedule // Stats // Notes // Live Stats	12.3	Assists	14.3
Canisius Links	Home // Roster // Schedule // Stats // Notes	12.8	TO	12.0

First Postseason Action in 56 Years
•   With victories in its last five games, Dartmouth became postseason eligible with a .500 record and received a bid to play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at Canisius.
•   While the Big Green had not won five consecutive contests in 10 years, it has been 56 years since they last played in the postseason with a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1959.
•   The last two victories came in thrilling fashion as Dartmouth rallied from a 24-point deficit with 14 minutes to play against Brown on March 6, then Gabas Maldunas hit a layup with 0.5 seconds left the next night to lift the Green to a 59-58 victory over the Ivy co-champion, Yale.
•   The Ivy League postseason awards were announced last week with Miles Wright being named Rookie of the Year — the first for Dartmouth in 11 years — with Maldunas and Alex Mitola earning second-team honors.
•   Mitola is the Big Green's leading scorer at 12.4 a night while ranking second in the Ivy League in three-pointers made per game (2.4).
•   Maldunas is the other Dartmouth player averaging double figures at 11.1 while leading the team on the glass with 6.8 rebounds per game.
•   Dartmouth ranks among the top 65 teams nationally in steals per game (7.6, 45th) and scoring defense (62.2, 65th).

Series vs. Canisius
•   Dartmouth owns a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Golden Griffins, but the two teams have not met since December of 1968.
•   The Big Green won that encounter in the Queen City Classic hosted by Canisius, 71-68.
•   Dartmouth has played a total of 17 postseason games in its history (going 10-7), but one of those came against the Golden Griffins in the East Regional semifinals of the 1956 NCAA Tournament, won by Canisius, 66-58.
•   Head coach Paul Cormier is 4-12 against Canisius in his career, with all 16 games coming during his seven-year stint as the head coach at Fairfield.

Scouting the Golden Griffins
•   Canisius recovered from a four-game skid in early February to win four of its last five regular-season contests before dropping a 60-54 game to Monmouth in the MAAC Tournament quarterfinals.
•   This is the Golden Griffins' third straight trip to the CIT, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2012-13 and losing to VMI in the first round last year.
•   Zach Lewis, a third-team All-MAAC selection, leads Canisius in scoring (12.4 ppg) assists (2.4 apg) and steals (1.7 spg).
•   Phil Valenti was averaging over 10 points, but missed nine games before playing 14 minutes in the MAAC quarterfinal game against Monmouth.
•   Josiah Heath (9.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) is the team's top inside threat while shooting nearly 50 percent.
•   The Golden Griffins have not shot particularly well this year (.402 FG, .315 3FG), but have held teams to a nearly identical scoring average as Dartmouth this year at 62.3 ppg.
•   Veteran Jim Baron (St. Bonaventure '77) is in his third season with Canisius, sporting a 57-41 record, and 28th as a head coach with an overall mark of 446-410 with nine years at his alma mater and 11 at Rhode Island.

POSTSEASON!
For the first time since playing West Virginia in the 1959 NCAA Tournament, the Dartmouth Big Green find themselves in the postseason. Despite not making an appearance after the regular season in 56 years, Dartmouth does own the best winning percentage in postseason play at .588 (10-7) thanks in part to playing in the NCAA title game twice — 1942 and 1944. The Big Green lost both to current Pac-12 schools, the first to Stanford, 53-38, the second to Utah in overtime, 42-40.

How Long Ago Was 1959?
Yes, 56 years is a long time between postseason appearances. But just how long ago was it? It was long enough that:
•   Dwight Eisenhower was president.
•   Syracuse was the national champion in football.
•   Alaska and Hawaii became states (Hawaii even signed into statehood on March 18).
•   Gas was 31 cents a gallon (everyone always wants to know that).
•   Ben-Hur won the Oscar for Best Picture.
•   Plan 9 From Outer Space premiered as well.
•   Gunsmoke was the top TV program.
•   Frankie Avalon had two #1 hits (Venus and Why).
•   Yet the music died.

Rookie of the Year
Miles Wright joined an elite group of players when he was announced as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year at the conclusion of the regular season. Only seven other Big Green players have ever earned the honor (three when it was Sophomore of the Year before freshman eligibility) — Bill Raynor (1972), Adam Sutton ('74), Larry Cubas ('75), Bryan Randall ('85), Jim Barton ('86), Sea Lonergan ('94) and Leon Pattman (2004).

The freshman currently averages 7.7 points and 2.9 rebounds a game while ranking among the league leaders in steals with 40. He raised his profile in the middle of the Ivy season when he scored in double figures for six straight games, averaging 17.0 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 57.8 percent (37-of-64) with 12 three-pointers.

All-Ivy Second Teamers
Both Gabas Maldunas and Alex Mitola were named to the All-Ivy Second Team by the league's coaches, the first time in 15 years Dartmouth has more than one player earn a spot on either the first or second team. The duo led the Big Green in scoring (Mitola 12.4 ppg, Maldunas 11.1) to help them place fourth in the conference standings, their highest finish in six years.

No Rest for the Weary
Well, Alex Mitola may not be weary, but the junior point guard has seen plenty of action this season and his entire career. He has started each of Dartmouth's 84 games since arriving on campus and has averaged 33 minutes a game. This year, he leads the Ivy League lead at 34:38 played per game. Mitola has played at least 32 minutes in every game except three this year, two of which came against Yale, including a season-low 25 in New Haven.

Also Among the Ivy Leaders
Dartmouth has a number of players among the league leaders in various statistical categories:
•   Alex Mitola is among the top 10 in six other categories — FT percentage (.853, 1st), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2, 2nd), 3FG per game (2.4, 2nd), scoring (12.4 ppg, 7th), assists per game (2.7, 10th) and 3FG pct. (.371, 10th).
•   Gabas Maldunas is third in blocks (1.9), seventh in rebounding (6.8), seventh in FG percentage (.480), tied for ninth in steals (1.2) and 12th in scoring (11.1).
•   Malik Gill ranks in three categories — assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7, 4th), steals (1.4, 5th) and assists (3.2, 8th).
•   Connor Boehm is third in FG percentage (.516).
•   Miles Wright is sixth in steals (1.3).

Team Awards Announced
Following the season finale against Yale, head coach Paul Cormier announced the team awards at a banquet:
•   A.D. Dolly” Stark MVP — Alex Mitola
•   Alvin F. “Doggie” Julian Award (for spirit and enthusiasm — Gabas Maldunas
•   John DiIorio '56 Award (for hustle, drive and determination) — Tommy Carpenter
•   Rudy LaRusso '59 Award (most improved) — Malik Gill and Cameron Smith

Maldunas Close to Exclusive Club
Three weeks ago, Gabas Maldunas became the 26th player in program history to score 1,000 points in a career, and the following weekend topped 700 rebounds, a total only three other Big Green players have reached. But the senior has a chance to become one of just two players at Dartmouth with 100 blocks and 100 steals in a career and one of four in Ivy League history to record 1,000 points, 700 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 steals. All he needs is a single steal against Canisius to join those exclusive clubs.

Mitola 8 Shy of 1,000
Gabas Maldunas may have more company soon among the 1,000-point scorers at Dartmouth as junior Alex Mitola needs just 18 points to reach the milestone before the end of his junior year. The odds are in his favor of doing so having just four instances all season of not scoring 18 points in consecutive games. But the Big Green's leading scorer did manage just 17 the first time against Brown and Yale when playing on the road on Feb. 6-7.

Playing Spoiler
Something had to give. In the season finale, Dartmouth was playing for a .500 record and a shot at the postseason, while Yale was playing for an Ivy League title and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1962. Only fitting it would come down to the final second of play when Gabas Maldunas dropped in a layup to lift the host Big Green to a stunning 59-58 victory over the Bulldogs. Yale went on to lose a one-game playoff to Harvard, 53-51, and was left out of all postseason competition despite a 22-10 record.

Buzzer Beaters Not Unusual
Maldunas' layup with 0.5 seconds showing on the clock against Yale was the third game-winning shot in the final second of play this season for the Big Green. Back on Dec. 19, Alex Mitola provided the heroics in overtime by swishing a three-pointer as time expired to defeat Northern Illinois, 58-55. Connor Boehm also had his moment in the sun with a three-pointer against IPFW on Nov. 28 as the buzzer sounded to lift Dartmouth to a 68-67 victory. The shots by Boehm and Maldunas were featured on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Day.

Down 24? No Problem
Dartmouth's hopes of a .500 record in the regular season were dwindling quickly against Brown on March 6. The Bears had opened up a 24-point lead, a deficit the Big Green had never overcome previously, much less with only 14 minutes left on the clock. Yet at the end of the game, there was Dartmouth on top, 75-69, after outscoring Brown 49-19 the rest of the game. Freshman Taylor Johnson gave the Green their first lead of the night with a breakaway layup and 1:19 to play, and Malik Gill — who scored a career-high 17 points — answered a Bear bucket with a three-pointer to put them on top for good. Along with the 10-point comeback against Yale the next night, Dartmouth won four games this season when trailing by double digits at some point. In the previous five seasons, it had one such win.

Five-Game Win Streak
With victories over Brown and Yale to end the season, Dartmouth is riding a five-game winning streak entering the CIT game at Canisius, its longest in 10 years. A victory over the Golden Griffins would give the Big Green their longest streak of success since the 1998-99 team won six in a row. That squad is also the last Dartmouth team to win 14 games in a season.

Most Telling Statistic
Dartmouth has had an up and down season, but one statistic at the end of every game has been a solid indicator as to whether or not the Big Green won — opposing field goal percentage, with the dividing line being 40 percent. When Dartmouth opponents shoot less than 40 percent, the Green are 10-1. When they shoot at least 40 percent, they are 4-13, but three of those four victories came during the current five-game winning streak.

Three-Pointers Rediscovered
Through the end of the 2014 calendar year, three-pointers were a common occurrence for the Big Green having shot 36.6 percent (82-for-224) from long range with at least seven in eight of the 12 games. But once the calendar turned to 2015, triples became scarce as Dartmouth managed just 32 in 116 attempts (.276) over the next eight contests with no more than six in any one game. Over the last four weeks, however, the trend has reverted back to early-season form with 50 treys in 127 attempts (.394), topping 50 percent in three of the eight games with a season-high 58.3 percent vs. Columbia on Feb. 14.

Road Sweep
With victories at Columbia and Cornell on Feb. 27-28, Dartmouth enjoyed its first road sweep of the Lions and Big Red in 12 years. The Big Green turned a 51-51 tie with just over 10 minutes to play into a 14-point lead five minutes later in posting an 84-71 triumph over the Lions. Less than 24 hours later, Dartmouth held the Big Red without a field goal for more than 13 minutes in building a 20-point lead, then withstood a late run to record its first victory in Ithaca since that sweep in 2003, 56-45.

Big Green Banter
•   The Big Green scored their most points (84) in the win over Columbia in 364 days (87 vs. Cornell).
•   The offensive output was a stark contrast to the defense played the next night as Cornell's 45 points were the fewest for a Dartmouth opponent since holding Columbia to 44 back on Feb. 19, 2010.
•   The Big Green also dominated the boards, outrebounding the not-as Big Red, 34-19. The last opponent with fewer was Longwood last year in Hanover with 18 in a 20-point Big Green victory.
•   The last time Dartmouth won consecutive Ivy League games by at least 10 points? Coincidentally, the last time the Big Green won both games at Columbia and Cornell — 50-36 and 70-53 in 2003.

Gill Named Co-Player of the Week
A team doesn't get a weekend sweep without some standout performances, and junior Malik Gill did just that to earn Ivy League Co-Player of the Week honors. The 5-9 guard came up big by scoring 14 points at Columbia and Cornell while hitting 7-of-10 field goals with a trio of triples as well as 11-for-11 at the charity stripe. Gill also dished out a total of 10 assists and stole the ball three times, two statistical categories in which he leads the team for the season (83 assists, 37 steals).

Consistency is a Virtue
If there is one player on the Dartmouth roster that can be depended on to provide specific statistical figures by the end of the season, that one player would be Alex Mitola. Here are some totals from his first three seasons:

Stat	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Field Goals	102	103	108
Field Goal Pct.	.385	.410	.388
3-Pt Field Goals	65	66	66
3-Pt Field Goal Pct.	.392	.418	.371
Free Throws	46	59	64
Free Throw Pct.	.852	.868	.853
Rebounds	69	71	74
Assists	55	75	76
Points	315	331	346

Back-To-Back Home Wins vs. Penn
The 67-62 victory over Penn on Feb. 21 was the second straight time the Big Green beat the Quakers at Leede Arena. It may not seem like much, but this is the first time since a three-season stretch in 1988-90 that Dartmouth has managed to win consecutive contests at home against Penn.

Showing Off Carpenter-y Skills
Throughout his career, junior Tommy Carpenter has been a useful role player. But lately, he has upped his offensive game, most notably against Penn on Feb. 21. The 6-7 forward not only scored a career-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, but also handed out a career-best five assists without committing a turnover. He also scored 10 points against Cornell on Feb. 13 and Columbia on Feb. 27, plus 13 more against Yale in the season finale giving him four career games in double figures.

Honor Among Thieves
Stealing is not frowned upon in basketball, and Dartmouth has been racking up the thefts this year, especially since Ivy play began. The Big Green have swiped the ball 212 times, allowing them to lead the league with 7.6 per game. That rate was more pronounced in conference play at 8.6, easily the most in the Ancient Eight. Three times Dartmouth has stolen the ball 13 times (vs. NJIT, at Harvard, vs. Yale), and Malik Gill leads the team with 41 with Miles Wright (40) and Gabas Maldunas (34) not far behind. The Big Green have topped 200 in a season just four times, most recently 2007-08.

Schedules