Oh So Close, but Big Green Come Up Short at Princeton, 69-68

Saturday, February 16

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

11-13, 2-6Ivy

Princeton

13-8, 5-3Ivy

Dartmouth

Princeton

Brendan Barry led all players with 26 points

Photo by: Doug Austin

Oh So Close, but Big Green Come Up Short at Princeton, 69-68

2/16/2019 9:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Brendan Barry had 26 points and James Foye 17 more, but Princeton sent Dartmouth home with a one-point loss

By: Rick Bender

PRINCETON, N.J. — Dartmouth scored on a putback with 3.4 seconds left, but Princeton was able to dribble out the clock leaving the Big Green on the short end of a 69-68 score on Saturday night. The host Tigers (13-8, 5-3 Ivy) got 18 points from Richmond Aririguzoh and 17 more from Myles Stephens to offset the game-high 26 points from junior guard Brendan Barry as Dartmouth lost for the 10th straight time at Jadwin Gym.

Barry's fourth 3-pointer of the night gave the Big Green a 61-57 lead with just over four minutes to play, but Princeton immediately answered with three points the hard way from Jaelin Llewellyn. Following two foul shots by Barry to boost the lead back to three, Llewellyn again drove for a bucket, and a Dartmouth turnover led to two Aririguzoh free throws to put Princeton back on top, 64-63, with 2:40 to play.

Sophomore Chris Knight, who had 12 points, managed to tie the score when he hit the second of two foul shots, but Stephens and Aririguzoh both scored down low for a 68-64 Tiger lead with barely a minute to play.

Dartmouth would not relent, however, as junior James Foye scored the last of his 17 points on a driving layup. When Aririguzoh only hit one of two free throws at the other end, the Big Green had the chance to tie in the final seconds. Barry launched a 3-point attempt from the far wing but came up short. Knight tried to put it back in, misses, then batted the ball in to make it a one-point game with 3.4 seconds remaining.

But Princeton's Devin Cannady gave the Dartmouth defense the slip on the inbounds pass and dribbled out the clock, allowing the Tigers to salvage a split on the weekend after a loss to Harvard the night before.

"As a younger coach, I would have likely been a little fiery and focused on the negative, but they didn't deserve that," said Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin after the game. "We got our sevles into a little bit of hole, then played smart the rest of the first half. In the second half we played with more of an edge and played good basketball. We as a program are headed in the exact direction we want to head, we just need to find a way to win some of these close games."

The Big Green shot an even 50 percent from the floor (27-of-54) and long range (6-of-12), plus hit 8-of-11 free throws (.727). Princeton struggled from behind the arc (4-of-18, .222), but nearly broke even overall at 28-of-58 (.483) and edged out Dartmouth at the line, converting 9-of-11 (.818).

Both teams did a good job taking care of the ball, but the Tigers made the most of their opportunities, turning nine Big Green turnovers into 17 points. Dartmouth, on the other hand, produced 10 points out of seven Princeton miscues.

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead, only to have the Big Green match that, capped by a 3-pointer by sophomore Aaryn Rai. From there, the two teams battled back and forth, being separated by no more than three points until Stephens scored in the post and completed a three-point play after being fouled to make it a 28-24 Tiger lead with 3:05 left in the half.

Foye answered back with a pair of tough buckets in the lane, but two three-point plays, along with a tip in in the final seconds of the half allowed Princeton to take a 37-32 lead into the locker room.

After the intermission, Dartmouth took it to the Tigers by scoring the first eight points for a sudden three-point lead. The Big Green boosted their difference to five on back-to-back 3-pointers by Barry and Foye, and Rai maintained it at 51-46 with a pair of free throws with 11:35 to play.

Neither team would have a bigger advantage the rest of the way with the lead changing hands five times with three ties mixed in.

Barry finished the game with a career-high 10 field goals in 17 attempts and 4-of-7 from downtown. Foye was an efficient 7-of-11 with a trifecta, while Knight — who entered the game shooting 58.2 percent in league play — was held to 5-of-14. Rai led the Big Green with eight rebounds as they held a 30-28 edge on the boards.

Aririguzoh hit 7-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the line to account for his 18 points to go with seven rebounds and three blocks, and Stephens was 7-of-14 with a triple and a team-high eight rebounds. Joining those two in double figures were Llewellyn with 14 and Cannady with 10 while the latter added three assists and three steals.

Dartmouth returns to action next Friday when it plays at league-leading Yale (17-4, 7-1 Ivy) in a game that will be televised on ESPNews.

Notes: Five of Dartmouth's six league losses have been by five or fewer points, four by no more than three … the Big Green have lost both games on the trip to Penn and Princeton 52 times in the 63 seasons of Ivy League play after an overtime defeat at the Palestra last night … Dartmouth is 3-47 all-time at Jadwin Gym … the Big Green starters produced all 68 points and all but four of the 30 rebounds, while Princeton's reserves provided just five points and three rebounds.