Basketball is a game of runs, momentum and showing up when it matters most. The Big Green men’s basketball team accomplished exactly that last Monday night, pulling out a neck-and-neck matchup against the Princeton Tigers in the final minute to win 71-69. Guard Kareem Thomas ’28 was crucial down the stretch for Dartmouth and hit a contested crossover mid-range shot with under a second to go to give the Big Green the lead exactly when they needed it.
The first half was a tale of inconsistency and bad luck for the Big Green. Starting guards Thomas and Connor Amundsen ’28 got the scoring started, each draining a 3 and combining with starting forwards Jayden Williams ’26 and Brandon Mitchell-Day ’26 to give Dartmouth a 14-11 early lead. Soon after, the Tigers found their offensive stride and reclaimed this lead, with key contributions from junior guard Jackson Hicke ’27 and sophomore forward Malik Abdullahi ’27.
Dartmouth guards Cam Hiatt ’29 and Nikola Abusara ’27 subbed in and made some shots to slow down Princeton’s momentum a bit, but the Tigers’ outside shooting was relentless. Princeton guards Dalen Davis and Landon Clark were consistent from downtown, and Hicke’s ability to score at multiple levels was on full display as the Big Green found themselves trailing 38-31 at the half.
Mitchell-Day brought down eight rebounds in the first half, while Hiatt led Dartmouth in scoring with eight points and great intensity.
“He is what you see,” McLaughlin said about Hiatt. “He’s tough, he’s gritty … he got where he needed to get him the ball and he made open shots.”
Still, the Tigers found themselves leading by seven due to lights-out shooting and a pestering defense that never let the Big Green get into a good rhythm. Princeton’s Davis was 3-for-3 from downtown, Hicke was on fire with the ball in his hands and some intense defense from Abdullahi and junior forward Jacob Huggins put the Tigers in a comfortable position.
“Princeton came in with a real identity,” McLaughlin said. “They know who they are on both ends of the ball … I thought they made shots early.”
Dartmouth wasn’t going down easy, however. In the second half, they came out with intensity and cut the Princeton lead to 1 with a pair of 3s from Williams. Still, the defense didn’t seem to have an answer for Hicke, who kept getting fast buckets to extend the Tiger lead. Center Anton Strelnikov ’29 subbed in and made a tough and-1 layup to give the team some much-needed energy, but fouls and offensive miscues kept the lead just out of reach. The fight continued.
Another Williams 3-pointer cut the lead down to 57-54, but an effective press break and consistent scoring from Hicke put the Tigers back up by 9 with only a few minutes remaining. The switch was about to flip and the Big Green knew exactly what they needed to do.
“We talk about execution all the time,” McLaughlin said. “We also talk about the three Ds. You’ve got to be disciplined, you have to make great decisions and attention to detail.”
Thomas had been impactful yet relatively quiet throughout the game, but during the last two minutes, he took over. He shortened the lead to 67-64 with a great layup. Following a defensive stop on Hicke courtesy of forward Jackson Munro ’26, he connected on a step-back 3 to tie the game with 1:30 left on the clock. Abdullahi missed a mid-range shot, and there was Thomas again, grabbing the rebound and advancing the ball up the court. What happened next caused Leede Arena and the Big Green faithful to erupt. Thomas blew by his defender, elevated and punished the rim with an aggressive slam dunk to give Dartmouth their first lead of the second half, 69-67.
“All my team has been telling me: dunk the ball, dunk the ball,” Thomas said. “I always like to lay it out, you know, keep the stress off the knees. But the room was open, the lane was open.”
Still, Princeton crawled back. Clark was fouled by Mitchell-Day on the following drive and hit both free throws to even the score once again. On the other end, Thomas’ layup attempt was rejected by Huggins with six seconds to go. Timeout, Big Green. It was time for a miracle.
Thomas inbounded the ball to Munro, hooked around to the corner, and took the handoff. Clark picked him up at the 3-point line, but everyone in the arena knew what was coming. Between the legs. Crossover. The shot went up from the elbow … bang! Kareem Thomas, with ice in his veins, caged the Tigers with less than a second remaining to give Dartmouth the 71-69 comeback win.
“It’s all hard work,” Thomas reflected. “Just a lot of hours in the summer, and that brings confidence to me, then confidence in my teammates as well and then trust with the coaches.”
Thomas finished the game with 22 points and four rebounds, scoring all of Dartmouth’s points in the last two minutes. Mitchell-Day also secured 14 rebounds and played amazing defense, limiting Princeton’s interior scoring.
“That’s just the type of player I am,” the senior captain said. “I mean, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win, no matter how flashy or unflashy it is. I think that when you have guys that are as talented who lift the ball on our team as we do, there’s other ways to be productive.”
Other notable performances included Hiatt’s 10 points and 50% from 3, and Williams’ 13 points that included three 3-pointers. On the other side, Hicke finished with 28 on 60% shooting from the field, Davis had 13 while going 3-for-3 from downtown, and Abduhalli had an all-around performance of 9 points, seven boards, and three assists, even adding in two blocks to go along with his strong defensive outing.
The win puts Dartmouth back on top of the Ivy League — tied with Yale and Harvard — with a 3-1 conference record.
Fans, look ahead to a Saturday matchup against Columbia University, with tipoff at 2 p.m. at Leede Arena.
