Wild Comeback Effort Falls Just Short in 65-62 Defeat

Saturday, February 22

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

10-15, 3-7Ivy

Princeton

12-11, 7-3Ivy

Princeton

Dartmouth

Chris Knight matched his career high with 27 points.

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Wild Comeback Effort Falls Just Short in 65-62 Defeat

2/22/2020 8:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Dartmouth trailed by as many as 17, had a shot to win in the final seconds

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — After falling behind by 17 in the first half, Dartmouth scrambled back and had a shot to win in the final seconds, only to see the potential game-winning shot roll off the rim as Princeton survived in Leede Arena on Saturday night, 65-62. The visiting Tigers (12-11, 7-3 Ivy) had 11 three-pointers, five by Jaelin Llewellyn, to hold off the Big Green (10-15, 3-7 Ivy), which got 27 points from junior Chris Knight, matching his career high.

Trailing by three, 63-60, with 1:15 to play, Dartmouth misfired on a 3-pointer, but its defense got a stop at the other end with Knight grabbing the rebound. Junior Aaryn Rai then spun and drove to the rim to score the final of his 17 points, closing the gap to one. After a Big Green timeout, Princeton was whistled for a five-second violation before it could get the ball inbounds, turning it back over to Dartmouth with 18.7 seconds left.

Senior James Foye drove in for a contested layup, and his miss was batted back by Knight, only to have it fail to fall through, giving Princeton the ball with 9.1 seconds to play. The Big Green, having committed just five fouls, had to foul twice to send the Tigers to the line for a one-and-one with 6.0 seconds still showing, and the first attempt missed everything, giving Dartmouth another chance to win the game.

Knight got the ball at the free throw line and drove toward the basket, but his off-balance shot was contested by Richmond Aririguzoh and would not fall. Llewellyn grabbed the rebound and hit two foul shots with 0.3 seconds left. The Big Green tried a home run pass for a quick catch-and-shoot 3-point attempt, but the pass was batted away as the clock finally expired.

Princeton jumped out to a 31-14 lead after 13 minutes of play, drilling five long balls in the opening minutes. But the Big Green chipped away and closed the gap to nine at the break, outscoring the Tigers, 10-2, in the final seven minutes before the intermission.

In the second half, Princeton enjoyed a double-digit lead after a Llewellyn triple 30 seconds in until Rai dropped in a shot in the lane with just under 10 minutes to go, making it a 47-39 ball game.

With five minutes to play, sophomore Taurus Samuels converted a pair of free throws to bring Dartmouth as close as a single point, 53-52, but Llewellyn and Ryan Schwieger drained 3-pointers to extend the lead to seven once again. Three straight Big Green buckets from Rai, Knight and sophomore Trevon Ary-Turner made it a one-point game again, 61-60, with 1:31 to go, before Aririguzoh hit two free throws and set up the final finish.

Knight finished the game 13-of-19 from the floor and 1-of-2 at the line for his 27 points and hauled in a season-high 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, while Rai was 7-of-11 on field goals and 3-of-4 on free throws to produce his 17. As a team, the Big Green shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) and hit just three 3-pointers in 10 attempts.

Llewellyn led the Tigers with 21 points on 7-of-15 field goals and 5-of-7 from long range. Aririguzoh added 14 points and Drew Friberg a dozen more with a pair of triples as Princeton knocked down 11-of-28 (.393) from the perimeter.

Dartmouth plays its next two games on the road at Cornell and Columbia on Friday and Saturday, respectively, both of which will be streamed live on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. each night.

Notes: The loss snapped a three-game winning streak, Dartmouth's longest in Ivy play since a five-game string of success to end the 2014-15 campaign … Princeton has won 20 of the past 22 meetings.