Dartmouth Stuns Brown 75-68
Saturday, March 08, 2014
Tyler Melville scored 23 points and Connor Boehm added 22 points to lead Dartmouth to a 75-68 upset win over Brown in an Ivy League game at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Dartmouth improves to 11-16 overall, 4-9 in the Ivy League, while Brown falls to 15-12 overall and 7-6 in league play.
“We were outhustled, outplayed, outworked and outcoached for 40 minutes,” said Brown head coach Mike Martin. “We’re not in a position to just show up and out-talent anyone. We have to win by defending, executing our offense and out-working our opponent.”
The Bears were paced by freshman Leland King, who scored a team high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, while also grabbing seven rebounds.
Brown senior guard Sean McGonagill posted 16 points and completed the double-double with 10 rebounds. Freshman Steven Spieth added 12 points for the Bears, while freshman Norman Hobbie chipped in with 10 points.
Bears’ sophomore forward Cedric Kuakumensah, the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, blocked a school record seven shots, tying his own school mark. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Melville connected on 7-of-13 field goals and handed out five assists, while Boehm shot 8-of-14 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. Alex Mitola also scored in double figures for the Big Green with 17 points.
Foul trouble plagued the Bears in the second half with both Brown point guards, freshman Tavon Blackmon and McGonagill picking up their fourth fouls with over 12 minutes remaining.
The Big Green built a 62-54 lead with 6:40 remaining on two free throws by Connor Boehm. Brown cut the Dartmouth lead to two points, 65-63, with :37 remaining after a Hobbie lay-up. But the Big Green hit 8-of-10 free throws in the final 34 seconds to ice the game.
Brown trailed for most of the opening half and fell behind by as many as nine points, 15-6, in the opening seven minutes. The Bears clawed back to take a 34-33 lead with 1:01 left on a conventional three-point play by Spieth. A late free throw by Dartmouth’s Melville knotted the score, 34-34 at intermission.
The Bears are home again tomorrow evening (Saturday) against Ivy League Champion Harvard. It’s Senior Night and the Brown will honor its two seniors, Josh Biber and Sean McGonagill, in pre-game ceremonies. Tip-off is 7pm at the Pizzitola Sports Center.