Ivy League Basketball Roundup: 12/19/2014
Below is the Ivy League Basketball Roundup for Friday, December 19, 2014. Dartmouth and Princeton were in action with both teams playing their opponents at home.
Dartmouth Escapes In Overtime After Losing Double Digit Lead
Dartmouth needed overtime to beat Northern Illinois 58-55 on Friday night. The Big Green led by as much as 14 points before the Huskies used a strong second half to force overtime. Alex Mitola drained a three pointer as time expired to win the game.
It was an even start before a 5-0 run by NIU going into the under 12 timeout made it 13-7 in their favor. The lead did not last long as the Big Green went on 10-4 run to tie the game at 17 with under 7 minutes to play in the first half. The final 7 minutes were dominated by Dartmouth with a 16-2 run to end the first half. Alex Mitola’s 6 points in the final three minutes helped build a 33-19 lead at the break.
The second half was a slow grind for Northern Illinois to get back in the game. With 11:25 remaining, Dartmouth still led 40-31, but the Huskies pushed them with a 5-0 run. Even with 5:22 left in the game it was Dartmouth leading 44-36, but the Huskies held the Big Green to 2 points in the final 5:22 while scoring 10 points themselves. Aaron Armstead’s three pointer with 21 seconds to play tied the game at 46 and the two teams headed to overtime.
Overtime was the Alex Mitola show. He accounted for all 11 points of the Big Green’s overtime points including the game winning three as time expired. 45 seconds earlier, he hit a three pointer to tie the game at 55.
Northern Illinois was led by Aaron Armstead’s 12 points off the bench. Anthony Johnson scored 11 points while Jordan Threloff had 10 points and 10 boards. The Huskies went 18 of 46 from the field (39.1%) and hit 8 of 20 three pointers (40%). They went 11 of 13 from the free throw line (84.6%), had 10 assists, but committed 19 turnovers.
Alex Mitola finished with 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting, but was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. Gabas Maldunas had 11 points and 7 rebounds while Connor Boehm scored 7 points and grabbed 9 boards. The Big Green went 19 of 56 from the field (33.9%) and hit 9 of 26 three pointers (34.6%). They went only 11 of 21 on free throws (52.4%), out-rebounded NIU 36 to 35, had 15 assists, 12 steals, and committed only 10 turnovers.
Northern Illinois (4-4) travels to face Notre Dame (10-1) on Monday evening. Dartmouth (5-5) travels as well on Monday and they will face Penn State (10-1) at 4 PM Eastern Time.
Princeton Crushes Lipscomb At Home
Princeton had a big first half on their way to a 77-55 win over Lipscomb on Friday evening. Clay Wilson was on fire from the perimeter to lead the Tigers with 19 points.
It took a few minutes for the offense to get going, but they did with both teams shooting well. Back-to-back three pointers from Clay Wilson and Hans Brase made it 16-12, but the Bisons kept it close. The final 6:40 saw Princeton go on a 19-8 run to end the half and lead 44-27 at the break.
The second half began with a three pointer from Spencer Weisz to make it a 20 point lead for Princeton before a 9-0 lead by Lipscomb made it an 11 point game at 47-36. The lead got as low as 10 points, but the Tigers were too much for the Bisons. A couple of late spurts by Princeton made it a 20 point game for sure with the final score of 77-55.
Malcolm Smith led Lipscomb with 20 points and 6 rebounds. He went 6 of 11 from the field and hit 8 of 9 free throws. Brett Wishon had 8 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. Lipscomb went 21 of 58 from the field (36.2%) and made only 2 of 16 three pointers (12.5%). They went 11 of 16 from the free throw line (68.8%) and out-rebounded Princeton 38-30. They also had 10 assists, but committed 13 turnovers.
Clay Wilson had 19 points on 5 of 7 shooting with all 5 made buckets from beyond the arc. Hans Brase scored 14 points, Spencer Weisz scored 13 points, and Amir Bell scored 11 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. The Tigers went 26 of 51 from the field (51%) and hit 14 of 26 three pointers (53.8%). They went 11 of 16 from the free throw line (68.8%), had 15 assists, 6 steals, 6 blocks, and committed 10 turnovers.
Lipscomb (4-7) faces Austin Peay (4-7) Monday afternoon on the road. Princeton (4-8) faces Liberty (5-6) at home on Monday evening.