Snapping an eight-game losing streak, the Dartmouth men's basketball team snagged a long-awaited win over Brown University on Saturday night, 58-53. The crowd was on fire as Dartmouth played lights-out basketball in the last minutes of the game, closing out the victory with a 15-3 run down the stretch.
The Big Green (5-21, 1-9 Ivy) not only won its first conference game of the year, but broke a 20-game conference skid dating back to January 2011. Tyler Melville '14 said he felt like he was "floating" after the Big Green's thrilling triumph, which drew a standing ovation from the Leede Arena crowd as the final buzzer sounded.
Jvonte Brooks '15 said the team was ecstatic after the win.
"It was fantastic," Brooks said. "We've had a lot of losses we shouldn't have had, but this time we did what we were supposed to do and it turned out well."
Dartmouth was slow to start, with Brown holding the lead for most of the first half. The Big Green started to make a comeback with six minutes left in the half with the help of two free throws from Brooks and some quick offensive movement from Jabari Trotter '12. Trotter swished a jumper with 3:38 remaining in the half to tie the game at 21, erasing what had been a six-point hole.
The half ended with a bang when R.J. Griffin '13, who was 3-for-4 from behind the arc, nailed a 3-pointer to give Dartmouth the lead, 26-24, sending the team to the locker room for the halftime break with new-found confidence.
During the break, Dartmouth coach Paul Cormier encouraged the team to turn up the intensity, according to Gabas Maldunas '15.
"We knew that we could win if we got really aggressive in the second half, and we did," Maldunas said.
The Bears (7-20, 1-9 Ivy) would not go down without a fight, however, as a cold shooting spell and a pair of turnovers to open the second half halted any momentum the Big Green may have had. Brown used a 12-2 run in the first four minutes of the half to take a 36-28 lead.
Contrary to its usual playing style of coming out strong in the second half before losing steam, the Big Green started slowly against the Bears and attacked in the last minutes of the game. A long jumper from Griffin followed by a steal and a layup by Melville, who recorded a game-high 15 points, brought the Big Green back into the game, as Dartmouth trailed 44-43 with nine minutes to play.
Dartmouth's small run was foiled by the Bears, who retaliated with three free throws and a three-pointer, giving Brown a seven-point lead.
The Big Green refused to stop fighting, working its way back with a layup by Maldunas. Following a Brown turnover, Melville drove through a pack of Bears and converted a layup while drawing contact. Melville sank the ensuing free throw for a three-point play, bringing Dartmouth within two, 50-48, with 5:33 to play.
After Brown's Sean McGonagill sank a free throw with 4:03 to go, Dartmouth was looking for a bucket to draw it closer to the lead. Griffin hit a sensational three-pointer to tie the score at 51, causing the crowd to erupt.
Everything came together on offense for the Big Green, according to Maldunas.
"We executed our plays a whole lot better than the games before," Maldunas said. "We've been working on our offense in practice and we looked for cuts to score instead of just moving the ball around."
With almost a minute to go, the Big Green brought the ball up the court and Maldunas extended the lead to 55-51 with a layup down low. Although Brown had possession, the Bears could not manage to break through the Big Green's dynamic defense.
Brooks said that confidence was a big factor in the team's superb performance against Brown.
"We came into the game knowing that we should win," Brooks said. "We were well matched up against them, and recently we've been playing better."
With less than 30 seconds to go, a Brown player fouled Melville, who put away two free throws to give the Big Green a 58-53 lead, icing the game.
On Friday, the team lost to Yale University (17-6, 7-2 Ivy), 70-61, despite Maldunas recording a career-high 23 points.Melville said the team will carry its newfound confidence into next week's games.
"We know that we have the ability to win now," Melville. "If we stay aggressive as a unit and work together, we will do well."
The Brown game was not only significant because of the win, but because it marked a special occasion for captain David Rufful '12. Rufful played in the 110th game of his career, setting a new Dartmouth record.
Dartmouth has another series of games at home next weekend, first facing the University of Pennsylvania on Friday at 7 p.m., follwed by Princeton University on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Leede Arena.
