Big Green Bested in Final Minute by Boston University, 65-62

Saturday, December 11

Hanover, N.H.

6:30 PM

Dartmouth College

3-5,0-0Ivy League

Boston University

9-3,0-0Patriot

Boston U.

Dartmouth

Junior Dame Adelekun gave Dartmouth the lead going into the final minute.

Big Green Bested in Final Minute by Boston University, 65-62

12/11/2021 8:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (HTML)Box Score NESN Highlights

The men's basketball team had a one-point lead in the final minute only to come up short

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Trailing by three with the clock running down is getting to be a habit for the Dartmouth Big Green. Unfortunately for them, they could not find the range on a 3-pointer at the buzzer as Boston University (9-3) escaped Leede Arena on Saturday night with a 65-62 victory over Dartmouth (3-5). Jonas Harper provided the game-winning bucket for the Terriers with 18.1 seconds left and Javante McCoy added two free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining to steal the victory from the Big Green.

Dartmouth trailed for most of the evening, but fifth-year senior Aaryn Rai, who scored a team-high 17 points, pulled up in the lane and dropped a shot through to put the Big Green on top, 46-45, with about 10 minutes to play. But BU responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to reclaim the lead that it held until Dartmouth rattled off seven straight points — the first five from freshman Ryan Cornish, the last two on a putback by junior Dame Adelekun for his first tally of the night — to knot the score at 56 with just over three minutes on the clock.

The two sides traded baskets on each of the next two possessions before the Terriers left the door open by hitting just 1-of-2 at the line to make it a 61-60 game. Again it was Adelekun who gave the Green the lead, laying one in off a feed from Rai with one minute to go.

Things looked good for Dartmouth when senior Taurus Samuels stripped the ball from McCoy, but Harper stole the ball back and drove to the rim for the breakaway layup and 63-62 edge with 18.1 seconds. After a Big Green timeout, Rai drove into the lane, spun and pulled up from 10 feet, but his shot only caught the front of the iron. McCoy grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled, sending him to the line for a one-and-one. The Terriers' leading scorer on the season hit both ends to give him 10 points in the game and BU a three-point lead.

Dartmouth quickly advanced the ball to midcourt and called time with 4.1 ticks left, but Rai's 3-point attempt from the top of the key would not find its way through the net, sending the Big Green to their fourth straight defeat.

Boston University led by as many as nine points several times in the first half, the last time by a 27-18 margin with 6:21 before the intermission. But the Big Green got a 3-pointer from senior Garrison Wade sandwiched between a Rai layup and trifecta, and graduate Brendan Barry sank two free throws before launching a corner trey just before time expired to close the gap to two at the half, 33-31.

Barry, who posted a career-high 31 against BU three years ago, had 13 points in the half with a trio of triples. But the Terriers were determined to shut him down in the second half, and they did by holding him scoreless on just two shot attempts.

Rai finished the game 7-of-12 from the floor with a 3-pointer and 2-of-2 at the line for his 17 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Barry was the only other Big Green player in double figures, going 4-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the perimeter. Wade led Dartmouth on the glass with a career-high eight rebounds while making his first start.

Harper led three Terriers in double figures with 19 points on 7-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-5 from long range despite entering the game shooting just 26.2 percent behind the arc. Power forward Sukhmail Mathon had 18 on 7-of-13 field goals and McCoy just missed a double-double with nine rebounds to go with his 10 points. As a team, Boston University shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53) and 44.4 percent (8-of-18) on its long balls.

After shooting just 35.7 percent from the floor overall but 50 percent (5-of-10) on 3-pointers in the first half, the Big Green had a reversal of fortunes in the second stanza, knocking down 13-of-25 field goals (.520) but just 1-of-6 (.167) from the outside. The six triples marked the first time since the season opener that Dartmouth did not hit at least 10 treys in a game.

Both teams had 12 turnovers and 14 fouls while the Green had a slight 32-29 edge on the boards.

Dartmouth next gets on a plane to play three games in California, taking on Stanford first on Dec. 16. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m. on the West Coast (10 p.m. EST) and will be shown live on the Pac-12 Network.

Notes: Dartmouth hit the game-tying 3-pointer in the first two of the four recent games, sending both into overtime with the Big Green beating Bryant on Nov. 28, 63-61, but falling to FGCU a week ago, 78-68 … Barry scored the 900th point of his Big Green career with his first 3-pointer of the night, three days after scoring his 1,000th collegiate point between Dartmouth and Temple … Rai reached the 700-point milestone with his first point of the night at the line … the six straight games with 10 or more 3-pointers tie the program record set back in February of 2002.