Defensive Battle Turns to Wild Finish in Overtime Road Win

Sunday, November 28

Smithfield, R.I. / Chace Athletic Center

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-1,0-0Ivy League

Bryant

3-4,0-0NEC

OT 1

Dartmouth

Bryant

Aaryn Rai played the hero at the end of overtime.

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Defensive Battle Turns to Wild Finish in Overtime Road Win

11/28/2021 6:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Aaryn Rai hit the game-winning shot with 0.9 seconds left in overtime

By: Rick Bender

SMITHFIELD, R.I. — What was a defensive battle in regulation turned into a wild, back-and-forth finish, but fifth-year senior Aaryn Rai made sure Dartmouth came out on top by laying in a shot with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime as the Big Green (3-1) nipped host Bryant (3-4), 63-61, extending their win streak to three.

With the score tied at 61 following a 3-pointer by the Bulldogs' Peter Kiss, his first make in 10 tries from the perimeter in the game, Dartmouth held the ball in hopes of getting the final shot. Senior Taurus Samuels drove into the lane with under 10 seconds left, but his layup just rimmed out and into the hands of Kiss. His pass was intercepted, however, by freshman Ryan Cornish, who thought about firing up a three, but instead tossed a lob pass to a wide-open Rai near the iron. Rai leaped, grabbed the pass and laid it in all in one motion for the game-winning bucket.

Kiss attempted a half-court heave at the buzzer, but could not add to his 19 points as the shot harmlessly caromed off the top right section of the backboard.

"Any time you can get a win on the road, especially a good team like Bryant, it's a great win," said head coach David McLaughlin. "Our guys showed a lot of heart, after being down near the end of regulation and after getting down four early in overtime. We did a good job protecting the paint and the perimeter, and after getting beat on the boards early, we did a much better job rebounding after halftime."

Dartmouth finished the game shooting 36.4 percent (24-of-66) from the floor but hit 75 percent (6-of-8) of its shots and both 3-point attempts in the overtime period. The hosts struggled even more, hitting 24-of-68 (.353) field goals and 8-of-32 (.250) from distance, compared to 11-of-29 (.379) for the Big Green.

But Bryant had a 53-33 advantage on the glass, most of which came in the first half when the Bulldogs outrebounded Dartmouth, 30-13. The Big Green equalizer was 13 steals that contributed to 20 Bryant turnovers and 28 Dartmouth points.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick four-point lead in overtime, but Dartmouth answered back with a Cornish layup and Brendan Barry's fifth 3-pointer that accounted for all of his team-high 15 points, putting the Big Green on top, 54-53.

Chris Childs briefly gave Bryant a lead with a layup, but Samuels knocked down a jumper from the right elbow then drained a trey after Cornish stole the ball, putting Dartmouth up by four, 59-55.

Bryant would not give in, however, as Charles Pride, who had a double-double by halftime and finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds, rattled home a long ball. After a Big Green shot was blocked out of bounds, junior Cam Krystkowiak cut hard to the rim on an inbounds pass and laid it in, only to have Kiss tie the game with his triple that set up Rai's heroics.

Dartmouth would not even have made it to overtime without Barry's prowess from the perimeter. Trailing by three with 5.5 seconds remaining in regulation, the Big Green threw an inbounds pass from in front of their bench across court to the far corner, which Krystkowiak leapt for, caught and dished to Barry in one motion, and the graduate lived up to his reputation by knocking down the 3-pointer to tie the game at 49.

The Big Green trailed for most of the game, only once holding a one-point advantage in the first 30 minutes. A pair of Kiss baskets put the Bulldogs up, 39-33, with 12:02 to play, but Bryant would go nearly nine minutes before it scored again.

Cornish got Dartmouth on the comeback trail, knocking down three free throws, which were the only foul shots attempted by either team after halftime. After Krystkowiak scored down low, Barry's career-high sixth steal of the day directly led to a fastbreak dunk by senior Garrison Wade for a 40-39 lead.

The run continued until the Big Green led by seven, 46-39, when Childs ended an 0-for-12 streak for Bryant (nine on 3-point attempts) from the floor with a layup. And when Adham Eleeda and Pride hit back-to-back threes, the latter with 25.3 seconds to play, the Bulldogs were back on top, 47-46.

Dartmouth turned the ball over and fouled twice, but it was still not in the bonus. A long outlet pass led to a Pride layup with 8.5 seconds left, and when the Big Green got the ball past midcourt, McLaughlin called a timeout to set up the final play.

Bryant, playing a 1-3-1 zone to start, jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead after three minutes had barely elapsed. After McLaughlin called for a timeout to settle his team, Samuels rewarded the strategy by dropping a pair of 3-pointers.

Following a Rai triple, the Big Green scored on three straight possessions — the only field goals they had inside the arc the entire first half — knotting the game at 16. But a few Dartmouth fouls allowed the Bulldogs to convert 5-of-6 at the line in a 45-second span — the only free throws for Bryant in the entire game — reclaiming the advantage at 21-16.

Dartmouth then got long balls from senior Wes Slajchert, Cornish and Barry, the last of which gave the Green their first lead of the afternoon at 25-24 with 1:24 on the clock. Kiss answered back with a fallaway, turnaround jumper on the baseline, giving Bryant a 26-25 lead at the intermission.

Joining Barry in double figures were Samuels with 13 points, Cornish (12) and Krystkowiak (10). Rai produced five points but also had a career-high 15 rebounds, nearly half of the team's total.

Dartmouth has another tough test on the road on Wednesday when it travels to twin-state rival Vermont (5-3). The game will be streamed live on ESPN3 and tips off at 7 p.m.

Notes: Dartmouth is 3-1 for the third consecutive season after achieving that start just once in the previous 21 campaigns … the Big Green are 3-4 in overtime games under McLaughlin's leadership … Dartmouth has hit 41 3-pointers during its three-game win streak, tied for the second-most in any three-game span in a single Big Green season.