Men's Hoops Rallies to Beat Dartmouth - Princeton University Athletics

Friday, February 20

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

Dartmouth

Stats Notes

February 21, 2015 | Men's Basketball

By: Princeton Athletic Communications

	Game 24 • Princeton at Dartmouth Hanover, N.H. • Leede Arena
63	Box Score • Postgame Interview & Highlights	56
(12-12, 5-3)		(9-14, 2-7)

Princeton overcame a slow start to rally and beat Dartmouth 63-56 Friday night in Hanover, improving to 5-3 in the league before heading south to Cambridge for Saturday night's contest at Harvard.

Princeton started 0 of 8 from the field while Dartmouth got out to a 9-0 lead, and Princeton couldn't close the gap until four minutes into the second half when a Hans Brase bucket gave Princeton a brief 37-36 edge. The lead changed four times after that, the last time on a Clay Wilson 3-pointer with nine minutes left to put Princeton up 48-47. Though it was just a one-point game at the time, Princeton never trailed again.

The teams went in opposite directions after halftime, with Princeton shooting 35 percent before the break and 52 percent after, and Dartmouth hitting at a 50 percent clip before halftime and 35 percent after. Princeton also outrebounded Dartmouth 22-13 after the break.

Stat	FG% (Made-Att.)	3FG% (Made-Att.)	Reb. (Off.-Def.)	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers (Fewer)
Leader				Tie	Tie
Margin	43.2% (19-44) 41.7% (20-48)	30.8% (8-26) 28.6% (4-14)	36 (10-26) 27 (6-21)	11-11	5-5	4-0	13-12

Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks

Bell • 12	Cook • 9	Bell • 4	Cook • 1 Brase • 1 Bell • 1 Hazel • 1 Miller • 1	Brase • 2
Maldunas • 16 Wright • 16	Maldunas • 7	Maldunas • 5	Wright • 2	None

Princeton led for all of the final nine minutes, but a 3-pointer by Steven Cook with 1:18 to go gave Princeton a 59-51 lead. Dartmouth never came closer than five points after that.

• Events around the Ivy League Friday night put another game of separation between third-place Princeton and the rest of the league, as the only teams with three or fewer losses are Harvard and Yale, each at 8-1, and Princeton at 5-3.

• Sophomore Henry Caruso made his first career start.

• In a statistical oddity, Princeton and its opponents have had the same number of assists in three straight games. Each team had 11 tonight. Princeton and its last two opponents have had the same number of steals in each of the last two games, with five each for both teams in the Yale-Princeton and Princeton-Dartmouth games.

• Freshman Amir Bell has scored in double figures in three straight games for the second time in his career (Nov. 22-28).

• It was the first time in his young Tiger career that rookie Amir Bell led Princeton in scoring in a game.

• Steven Cook was Princeton's solo leader in rebounds for the first time in his career, with nine tonight. He co-led the team two other times, at Columbia last season and against Lipscomb earlier this season.

Princeton will head to Harvard for a 7 p.m. tip Saturday. The Crimson are coming off a 69-46 win over Penn Friday night in Cambridge and stand at 8-1 in the Ivy, co-leading the league with Yale.