HANOVER — Tuesday was the 42nd anniversary of the U.S. men’s hockey team’s “Miracle on Ice” defeat of the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
There was no upset inside Dartmouth College’s Leede Arena, however, as the Big Green men’s basketball squad fell, 66-61, to Yale in Ivy League action. The first-place Bulldogs, preseason favorites, improved to 16-10 overall and 10-2 in league play. Dartmouth dropped to 7-16 and 4-8 and into a seventh-place tie with Brown and has lost 12 consecutive games to Yale.
The result, for all intents and purposes, eliminates the Big Green from contention for the Ivy League’s four-team, postseason tournament. The event began in 2017 and Dartmouth have yet to participate in either men’s or women’s hoops. A home game Saturday against Pennsylvania (12-14, 9-3) and a March 5 road trip to Harvard (13-10, 5-6) close the regular season.
Dartmouth surrendered one field goal during the final 9 minutes, 18 seconds, but the Bulldogs sank their final six free throws and converted 15 of 18 for the night. The Big Green has eight times had a chance to tie or win a game during the final 10 seconds and is 1-7 in that situation. It trailed, 64-61, without the ball and 12 seconds remaining Tuesday.
“Rebounds were obviously a big factor,” said sixth-year Dartmouth coach David McLaughlin, whose squad was beaten on the boards, 37-24. “We lost two in the same possession late and we’ve got to be able to secure those. It’s hard to play 25 seconds of great defense, have rebounds and not secure the ball.”
Fifth-year senior guard Aaryn Rai led the hosts with 19 points, 17 after intermission. Brendan Barry added 13 points and Taurus Samuels chipped in 12 points. Junior center Dame Adelekun, whose game has skyrocketed since the start of Ivy play with averages of 11 points and eight rebounds, contributed eight points and nine rebounds against Yale.
“It’s not so much hard to find big men, but how you develop them,” said McLaughlin, whose program has endured a dearth of post talent during the last decade. “There aren’t many in the Ivy League as a whole, but you have to find ones who want to put in the time and become great. Bigs always develop late.”
Dartmouth trailed, 19-6, midway through the first quarter, pulled within 24-23 four minutes before halftime and was down, 36-27, at the break. A Rai steal and fast-break bucket made the score 43-41 five minutes into the second half, but the Bulldogs surged ahead, 51-44, two minutes later.
“We’ve proven we can play with anyone on our schedule, but I’ve said that too many times this season,” said McLaughlin, who is 18-50 in Ivy play at Dartmouth. “We didn’t make enough plays through the whole 40 minutes. You can’t just look at the last four.”
Barry won’t want to watch video of the last 20. The graduate student, playing his fifth college season, was blanketed and needs seven three-point baskets to break the career mark of 242 by 1989 graduate Jim Barton.
“Brendan kept us in the first half, willing the ball in,” McLaughlin said. “They didn’t give him anything easy. There’s not enough time for me to talk about how competitive he is. He doesn’t show lot of emotion on the court.”
Dartmouth has finished sixth and eighth in its eight-school league twice each under McLaughlin, who six times won 20 or more games at NCAA Division II Stonehill (Mass.) College before coming to Hanover. Where in particular is the Big Green coming up short on his watch?
“You want to ask yourself that question 25 times per day,” the coach said. “But if I thought that way all the time, I’d go into a deep spiral real quick. You just work your butts off and try to push the right buttons.
“We aspire to be like (Yale) but we’re still right in the middle of getting there. We can and we will get it done.”
Notes: The Hanover High girls basketball team attended the game and was recognized at halftime over the public-address system. It includes guard Sydney McLaughlin, daughter of David McLaughlin, and swing player Melissa Whitmore, daughter of executive associate athletic director Richard Whitmore… Richard Whitmore was one of several athletic department staffers who formed a human barrier between the student section and Yale players and coaches as the latter entered and exited the floor. The students shouted and barked at the Bulldogs as they walked past… Ever seen a college player coached from the bleachers? It happened Tuesday, when Yale’s Bez Mbeng looked into the stands and listened intently to instructions from an older gentleman. Sitting not 20 feet away was Bulldogs 23rd-year bench boss James Jones, the longest-tenured Ivy League men’s basketball coach and winner of five Ancient Eight crowns… Yale senior guard Eze Dike, a Montreal native, attended Meriden’s Kimball Union Academy, also the alma mater of Dartmouth sophomore guard Robert McRae III, who hails from Inglewood, Calif… Ray Curran, coach of the Springfield High girls soccer and Stevens High boys basketball teams, sat behind the Yale bench wearing a Bulldogs baseball cap. Curran is a former Connecticut resident… Security guards moved through the Leede Arena stands midway through the first half, asking spectators with masks on their chins or below their noses to raise the barriers above their nostrils.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.