Men’s basketball (6–13 overall, 2–2 Ivy League) continued Ivy League play Monday night, facing off against the Dartmouth Big Green (9–8, 3–1).
The Tigers were led by the offensive performance of junior guard Jackson Hicke, who scored a season high 28 points. However, in the final minute, Princeton struggled to maintain the lead they had held for most of the game, losing in the final seconds.
“We know what we need to work on and need to continue playing our brand of basketball late in games.” Hicke told The Daily Princetonian.
Scoring for the Tigers was opened up by a jumper from sophomore forward Malik Abdullahi. After trading layups and three point shots, the Tigers and Big Green looked evenly matched through the first minutes. With 5:32 remaining in the first half, Princeton pulled ahead to their largest lead of the game 32–23 behind four consecutive three-pointers: two from junior guard Dalen Davis, one from Hicke, and one from first-year guard Landon Clark. Princeton led going into the half 38–31.
“My teammates did a great job creating for me and finding me in spots where I could be effective,” Hicke told the ‘Prince.’ “It’s an unselfish group and I was the beneficiary often of great passes.”
The first half was promising for the Tigers, and if they could maintain their offensive dominance and three-point shooting, they had a real chance to beat the Big Green. But the commanding halftime lead didn’t last long.
Dartmouth came out of the gates fast. Despite a turnover and an Abdullahi jumper, Dartmouth was able to knock down two three-pointers and two free throws to narrow the Princeton lead to just one point within the first three minutes of the second half.
Abdullahi was the bright spot for the Tigers early in the half, as he was responsible for their first five points, along with two defensive rebounds and a block. After this, Hicke continued knocking down shots, building the Tigers’ lead back up to six with a little over ten minutes remaining in the game.
The Tiger offense continued to answer Dartmouth’s attempts to close in, and with a little under six minutes to play, Princeton led 67–58. With little time left and a nine-point lead, all seemed well for the Tigers to cruise to a convincing conference win, but the Big Green were able to score nine unanswered points to tie the game at 67 with just under two minutes to go. The run was fueled by second-chance opportunities, exposing Princeton’s difficulty closing defensive possessions.
After Abdullahi missed a 17-foot jumper, Dartmouth’s Kareem Thomas snagged the defensive rebound and threw down a dunk with 44 seconds left in the game, taking the lead 69–67 for the Big Green. This was the first time the Big Green had led since halfway through the first half.
Dartmouth fouled, giving Clark two free throws, both of which he made to tie the game 69–69 with 26 seconds left.
Last January, former Princeton guard Xavian Lee drilled a stepback three to defeat Dartmouth in dramatic fashion. However, this year the Tigers fell victim to a buzzer beater themselves, with Dartmouth’s Thomas knocking down a 16-foot shot to win the game 71–69 as time expired.
After a crushing loss to Harvard in overtime following a late game collapse, the Orange and Black faithful once again watched a late game lead slip through their fingers.
“To move past these losses, the only thing you can do is learn from them and not let them affect you negatively in the future,” Hicke told the ‘Prince.’ “We have to have all our focus on our upcoming games to get back on track and stay together as a unit.”
Princeton looks to break their two-game losing streak Saturday against the Brown Bears (7–10, 1–3) who have struggled against conference opponents up to this point.
Zeke Arnold is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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