More Heartbreak for the Men in One-Point Overtime Loss

Friday, March 1

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

OT 1

Princeton

Dartmouth

Aaryn Rai set career highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds

Photo by: Doug Austin

More Heartbreak for the Men in One-Point Overtime Loss

3/1/2019 9:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Aaryn Rai set career highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but Princeton handed the Big Green a 77-76 defeat

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth's Aaryn Rai had a career-game with 21 points and 12 rebounds for his first-ever double-double, but Ryan Schwieger produced 26 points — including 11-of-11 at the foul line — to help Princeton escape Leede Arena on Friday night with a 77-76, overtime victory over the host Big Green. The Tigers improved to 16-8 on the season and 8-3 in the Ivy League, while the Big Green (11-16, 2-9 Ivy) suffered their sixth league loss by three points or fewer in dropping their fifth straight.

Trailing by eight points with 1:22 left in regulation after Schwieger hit two of his free throws, Dartmouth got on the comeback trail when junior Brendan Barry drained a 27-footer from the top of the key. Sophomore Chris Knight, who led the Big Green with 22 points, put back his own blocked shot for a layup after a Princeton turnover, and suddenly Dartmouth was down three, 60-57, with 49.6 seconds still to play.

The Big Green played solid defense and forced a missed 3-pointer from the corner as the shot clock expired, but Barry missed on a contested potential game-tying long ball that went out of bounds. The miss was tipped out by Princeton, however, giving Dartmouth 4.1 seconds to tie the game at 60, which it did when junior James Foye rained down a triple, sending the game into overtime.

The setback didn't seem to affect the Tigers as they matched the eight straight points Dartmouth scored at the end of regulation, the last three coming on a long 3-point attempt that Myles Stephens (19 points) banked in. Knight quickly closed the gap back to three with a three-point play and a layup off a quick baseline move.

Another Foye triple with 1:28 to play maintained that three-point deficit, 72-69, but Princeton converted 3-of-4 at the line on its next two possessions for another six-point advantage. After Dartmouth hit 2-of-4 at the line, Rai stole the inbounds pass and laid one in to make it a 75-73 game with 12.8 seconds on the clock. Again Schwieger made two foul shots, only to have Rai rain down a long ball to close the gap to one.

Stephens was fouled with 1.8 seconds to play, and after missing the first free throw, missed the second, forcing a full-court heave by Rai that fell well short to end the game.

"I would say just about everyone in the gym counted us out with a minute and a half left, but we responded and James made the big three," head coach David McLaughlin said after the game. "Frustrating when we've lost six league games by one possession. I don't know if that's an Ivy League record or not, but all this is going to do is make us better in the long run. It may not seem like much, but this team is a fun team to coach, they play hard, they play together, and they deserve more wins. I need to do a better job late in the game with them. But I know that this team will be ready to go again tomorrow."

The first half was predominantly a defensive struggle as Dartmouth held Princeton to just eight field goals at a 32 percent clip and nary a 3-pointer while building up a 26-19 lead at the break. With the score tied at 17 with four minutes left until the intermission, the Big Green ended the half on a 9-2 run, starting with Rai's first 3-pointer and ending with three buckets in the paint, two by Knight with the first one a two-hand jam.

Princeton put the second half on notice as Schwieger began the stanza with a trey, which Barry immediately answered. Within six minutes, however, Stephens was knocking down a short jumper in the lane to give Princeton a 34-33 lead, and Dartmouth would never lead again. The Tigers boosted their lead to as many as nine with 2:21 left on another Schwieger rainmaker, but the Big Green — which were 6-for-23 in the half to that point — hit five of their last seven of second period to tie the game.

Schwieger finished the night 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-6 from downtown to go with his 11 foul shots for his 26 points. Joining Schwieger and Stephens in double figures was freshman Jaelin Llewellyn with 17, all coming after halftime.

Rai finished 8-of-13 on field goals and 2-of-4 from behind the arc in setting career highs in points and rebounds. Knight was 8-of-17 with a trifecta and 5-of-5 at the line, while Barry had 17 points thanks to 4-of-7 from the perimeter and Foye 10 to go with nine rebounds to match a personal best.

Princeton ended the game shooting 43.5 percent (27-of-62) and 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from long range, while Dartmouth canned 43.8 percent (28-of-64) overall and 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from deep. The Tigers had the advantage at the foul line, though, hitting 16-of-19 (.842) compared to 11-of-15 (.733).

Dartmouth will look to end its five-game slide tomorrow night when it hosts Penn (16-11, 4-7 Ivy) at 7 p.m. for Senior Night. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Bob Lipman and Eric Berry calling the action. Fans can also listen to the contests locally on KOOL FM (106.7 FM in Hanover, 96.3 FM in Walpole and 106.5 FM in Keene) or online at koolnh.com with Brett Franklin and Bill Murphy on the call.

Notes: The loss eliminated Dartmouth from the possibility of qualifying for a berth in the Ivy League Tournament in two weeks … Rai is the sixth player on the Big Green roster to score 20 points in a game, believed to be the first time six have done so in one season at Dartmouth.