With six seconds remaining P.J. Halas '98 drained a three pointer from NBA range to beat Lafayette 72-71 in Easton, PA, Saturday afternoon.
Halas' bucket ended a second half shootout which saw the lead change hands 18 times between the Big Green and the Leopards.
"It was an outstanding college basketball game," Coach Dave Faucher said. "I thought both teams played well in the second half. It was a shame someone had to lose."
After the first 20 minutes, the game was knotted at 26 apiece. Dartmouth was shooting a respectable 44 percent from the field while Lafayette was grenade tossing at 36 percent
"Both sides made key offensive adjustments at halftime," Faucher said. "The game was explosive with all the scoring in the second half."
In fact, the Big Green shot 60 percent from the floor after the halftime break and was perfect in all nine attempts from the charity stripe. Still, Lafayette played tight and the game was not decided until the final buzzer.
With 45 seconds to go, Halas dropped in two free throws to give the Big Green a 69-68 edge. Twenty-five ticks later Goeff Schoenick buried a three and Lafayette was up by two, 71-69.
With six seconds remaining, Halas' bomb made it 72-71, giving Dartmouth their third win in four tries.
Halas (19 points, six assists) was simply outstanding, going six of seven from the field including five of six from three point range and two of two from the freethrow line. His performance was a new career high, as he shared game scoring honors with Sea Lonergan '97 who also had 19 points.
Brian Gilpin '97 added 17 points for the Big Green as he went six of 10 from the floor and was a deadly five of five from the line.
With the win, Dartmouth improved to 9-6 (3-1 Ivy), while Lafayette dropped to 2-13 and 0-3 in the Patriot conference.
The Big Green rest their sharpshooting offense until Jan. 27 when they host the Midshipmen of Navy. Tip off is at 3:00 p.m. in Leede Arena.
