Frantic Comeback Falls Short in Alaska

Thursday, November 24

Anchorage, Alaska

1:10 AM

Dartmouth College

1-3

San Francisco

5-1

Dartmouth

San Francisco

11/24/2011 6:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Trailing by seven with less than a minute to play, the Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball team drilled three straight three-pointers to close within one, but could not finish off the comeback as San Francisco held on for a 71-69 victory in the first round of the Carrs Safeway Great Alaska Shootout hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage at Sullivan Arena on Wednesday night. Senior captain David Rufful led Dartmouth (1-3) with a career-high 19 points while junior R.J. Griffin added 17 more, but those totals were trumped by Michael Williams' 23 and Rashad Green's 18 for the Dons (5-1), which won their fifth straight game.

San Francisco led by six, 65-59, as the clock approached one minute when Green was sent to the free throw line for two shots. After sinking the first, he misfired on the second, which led to a quick three-pointer by freshman Mack McKearney at the other end. Again Dartmouth fouled Green, who drained both foul shots, but Griffin drilled a trifecta from the wing to halve the deficit to three with 46 seconds to play.

Now it was Williams' turn to go the line, and he converted just one of his two freebies. Racing down to the other end, the Big Green got the ball to Rufful who popped his career-best fifth three-pointer of the night, bringing Dartmouth within one at 69-68 with 26 ticks on the clock. Williams got another chance to shoot to free throws, and again was able to get just one. With an opportunity to tie or take the lead, Griffin opted to try a long three-pointer, but only drew the front of the iron.

Still the Dons could not put away the Big Green as Avery Johnson hit 1-of-2 at the line with 7.1 seconds left, leaving the door open for Dartmouth. But San Francisco coach Rex Walters opted to have his team foul senior Jabari Trotter as he brought the ball up the floor, which would not allow Dartmouth from tying the game with a three-pointer. Trotter missed the first and sank the second free throw, and after a timeout, the Dons successfully played keep away to run out the clock and escape with the two-point triumph.

San Francisco led by as many as 10 in the second half, the last time with 7:14 to play. It took barely two minutes to whittle that difference down to one thanks to an 11-2 Big Green spurt as freshman Jvonte Brooks tallied five points between three-pointers by senior Kirk Crecco and Rufful. But the Dons rattled off the next seven points to get back up eight before taking that seven-point edge into the final minute.

The second half began with the Green trailing by five, 28-23, and six and a half minutes later, they had gotten no closer. A Rufful layup and back-to-back buckets by freshman forward Gabas Maldunas, however, gave Dartmouth its only lead of the second stanza at 40-39 with 11:36 to play. That lead lasted exactly 19 seconds as Green rained in a three from the corner to start a 13-2 Don run for USF's first of two 10-point bulges of the night.

Both teams shot well during the second half with Dartmouth hitting on half of its shots (15-of-30) including 6-of-11 (.545) from downtown and 10-of-12 (.833) from the line. San Francisco, meanwhile, sank 14-of-29 (.483) in the final 20 minutes, 3-of-6 from behind the arc and 12-of-16 at the line, although all four misses at the charity stripe came in the final 65 seconds.

That shooting was a stark contrast to the opening half as USF went just 8-of-28 (.286) from the floor while the Big Green were only slightly better at 8-of-22 (.364). The Dons failed to hit any of their first 10 shots of the night and was just 3-of-16 as Dartmouth opened up a nine-point lead at 15-6 despite turning the ball over five times as it built up its lead.

The turnovers began to catch up with the Green as San Francisco ratcheted up the defensive pressure. Following one steal, Dartmouth was whistled for an intentional foul on a fastbreak, leading to a five-point possession as Angelo Caloiaro hit the two free throws and Williams followed with a triple, quickly making it a two-point game. Two more free throws by Williams tied the game for the first time, only to have the Big Green get a desperation three by Griffin to bank in and another trey by Rufful.

The next 13 points came at the Dons' end of the floor, provided by Williams, Green and Caloiaro. Suddenly trailing by seven, Dartmouth got the final points of the half on a couple of foul shots by freshman forward Jvonte Brooks.

Dartmouth finished the night shooting a season-best 44.2 percent overall (23-of-52) with 10 three-pointers and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) at the line. Rufful was 7-of-10 with a career-high five three-pointers while Griffin hit 6-of-12 from the floor with a trio of treys and both foul shots. Maldunas joined the duo in double figures with 14 points with five rebounds, and Brooks chipped in seven points and a team-high six boards. As a team, the Big Green dished out 19 assists on those 23 field goals with Trotter recording a career-best seven helpers.

San Francisco held a slim 34-31 advantage on the glass and turned the ball over four fewer times (16-12). Williams finished the night 7-of-14 from the floor (3-of-6 on threes) and 6-of-8 at the foul line to comprise his 23 points. While Green was scoring his 18, Caloiaro added 16 more with a perfect 7-of-7 performance on the line. Each of the trio grabbed five rebounds to pace the squad as well. As a team, the Dons shot just 38.6 percent (22-of-57) but 77.8 percent (21-of-27) of their free throws.

Dartmouth will play the host Alaska Anchorage (0-1) — which lost to Murray State, 64-62, despite a furious rally as well — on Friday in the consolation bracket at noon locally (4 p.m. EST). San Francisco moves on to the winner's bracket to play the Racers (5-0) at 5:30 p.m. locally (9:30 p.m. EST). All of the games in the tournament are being broadcast nationally on Fox College Sports and the YES Network, as well as regionally on numerous stations. Check your local listings to find out how you can watch the games live.