Princeton Steals Away Game from Men in Final Minutes

Friday, February 3

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

Princeton Steals Away Game from Men in Final Minutes

2/3/2017 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)ILDN Highlights Archived ILDN Broadcast Interview: Postgame with David McLaughlin, Feb. 3, 2017

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth led Ivy League-leading Princeton for nearly 29 minutes on Friday night at Leede Arena, but Devin Cannady's three-pointer with 4:33 to play broke a 57-all deadlock and gave the Tigers the lead for good as they escaped with a 69-64 victory over the Big Green. Spencer Weisz led Princeton (11-6, 4-0 Ivy) with 26 points, while sophomore Evan Boudreaux countered with his league-leading ninth double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds, for Dartmouth (3-15, 0-5).

After leading by as many as 10 points in the first half, the Big Green had their advantage whittled to one at the break, 33-32. But Dartmouth stayed on top until Weisz knotted the score at 45 with consecutive three-pointers with 13:38 to play. Another bucket by Weisz, this time at the rim, a minute later gave Princeton its first lead in 23 minutes of action.

The eight-point run did not faze the Green, however, as they rattled off seven straight points of their own. Senior Mike Fleming — who scored in double digits for the first time in his career with 11 points — quickly put Dartmouth back on top with a three-pointer, then ended the run with a pull-up jumper in the lane for a 52-47 edge.

Again Princeton stormed back with the next six points, punctuated by Myles Stephens with a thunderous dunk for two of his 18 points. The back-and-forth continued as freshman Brendan Barry rattled home a three-pointer from the top of the key for the Big Green and Boudreaux dropped in a layup in transition, causing Princeton to call time trailing 57-53 with 6:16 remaining.

Stephens went back to work, knocking down a baseline jumper before tying the game again at 57 with a putback on the Tigers' third try. After a steal by Amir Bell, Cannady launched his go-ahead three-pointer.

Dartmouth sophomore Guilien Smith answered with a pull-up 15-footer, but another Princeton three-pointer, this time by Stephens, made it a two-possession game at 63-59. Again Smith got his jump shot to fall to cut the deficit in half, but Weisz dropped in a layup in response. Cannady made all four of his free throws in the final 30 seconds to finish the game with 12 points, making Boudreaux's three-pointer with 17 seconds to play moot.

The Big Green opened up that 10-point lead in the first half thanks to drilling 10-of-13 field goals over a 7:30 stretch. Junior Miles Wright rained down two three-pointers with a driving layup sandwiched between for the final eight points of a 12-0 run to put Dartmouth up, 14-5. Fleming also added a pair of fadeaway jumpers in the lane as the Green held a 10-point advantage on five occasions, the last at 27-17 with 7:24 until the intermission.

The long ball helped Princeton close the gap as Stephens, Weisz and Cannady each ripped the net for three in the final six minutes, the last one coming just before the clock expired.

Both teams produced 26 field goals and eight three-pointers, but Princeton's 9-of-11 performance at the line trumped Dartmouth's 4-of-7 with only two attempts in the second half, both missed. The Big Green was more accurate from the floor, just shy of 50 percent (26-of-53, .491) to Princeton's 43.3 percent (26-of-60). The Tigers had a slim 33-32 advantage on the glass, but turned the ball over just six times, though Dartmouth's 11 miscues were well below its season average of 16. But Princeton managed to take advantage of those turnovers, converting them into 17 points.

Wright finished the game with 13 points and Smith had 10 for Dartmouth, while Boudreaux hit 8-of-14 shots with three treys and a pair of free throws for his fifth 20-point game of the season. Fleming not only had career highs with 11 points and five field goals, but also five rebounds.

Steven Cook led the Tigers' rebounding effort with 10 caroms while Stephens, who was 8-of-13 shooting, just missed out on a double-double with nine. Weisz finished the game 11-of-21 from the floor and 4-of-11 from behind the arc.

Dartmouth next hosts Penn (7-10, 0-4 Ivy) on Saturday night at 7 p.m. as the two teams both search for their first Ivy League victory of the year. The Big Green have won three straight at home against the Quakers, but have yet to win a game in the 2017 calendar year. The game will be streamed live on both the Ivy League Digital Network and ESPN3 with Jay Burnham and Bob Lipman calling the action. Fans can also hear the game live on KOOL 93.9 FM over the dial or online at www.koolnh.com.

Notes: Dartmouth has lost six straight since a three-game winning streak to end 2016 ... Princeton is now 150-62 in the series against the Big Green and 21-9 at Leede Arena.