Brown basketball forces OT, ultimately falls to Dartmouth. Here's how

PROVIDENCE – Persistence was only worth so much for the Brown men on this Saturday night at the Pizzitola Center. 

The Bears managed to fight their way into overtime against Dartmouth before the critical moments arrived. The Big Green found a way to execute at the offensive end when it mattered most while Brown endured what have become familiar struggles. 

Connor Amundsen’s leaner from out high with 48.9 seconds left ultimately proved to be the dagger. Dartmouth avoided what would have been a disappointing loss thanks to five extra minutes, and the Big Green departed the East Side with a 77-70 victory on Jan. 31.

Charlie O’Sullivan buried a 3-pointer with 25.6 seconds left in regulation to earn the Bears some added time, but they closed just 1-for-7 from the field and 2-for-5 at the line after regulation. Those misses helped Dartmouth finish the first half of its Ivy League schedule above .500 and deal Brown a fourth straight defeat. 

“I feel like we played a little bit better today than we did last night,” Brown coach Mike Martin said. “We’ve still got to put it all together for 40 – in tonight’s case, 45 – minutes.” 

Harvard enjoyed a parade to the foul line the previous evening in a 69-59 triumph here. The Big Green went to the stripe a little less frequently but still found enough answers to leave the Bears in the conference basement at the midpoint. Kareem Thomas completed a perfect 10-for-10 night at the line on his final pair with 20.8 seconds left, and Brown was out of real chances in a six-point game. 

“We’ve got to be good enough to overcome those kinds of things that are beyond our control,” Martin said. “We’ve got to be better at eliminating some of the careless mistakes.” 

The Bears opened just 4-for-20 from deep before finding the touch late in regulation. They connected on three straight into overtime, including a contested O’Sullivan jumper from the right wing. That was the last of five 3-point attempts in the second half that could have given Brown a tie, and a stop on Dartmouth’s final possession left it a 65-65 tie. 

“Some of it’s personnel,” Martin said. “But we have to keep working on reading different coverages and making good decisions in dribble-drive situations and post-up situations.” 

The Big Green lost a 63-54 lead just to reach that point – it was 35-21 late in the opening half before the Bears roared out of the locker room with some intent. Adrian Uchidiuno’s steal and runout layup made it a 37-32 game, and Dartmouth called a quick timeout with 18:13 left. Brown was never truly out of reach from there while attempting to avoid a repeat of the previous night’s disappointment to the Crimson. 

“From that point on I thought we did a really good job making things difficult on them,” Martin said. “We were more efficient offensively. Hopefully that’s something we can build on this week.” 

Brandon Mitchell-Day picked up a second personal foul with 10:56 left in the first half, but the absence of a standout didn’t stop the Big Green (10-10, 4-3 Ivy League) from eventually opening up a lead. Nikola Abusara’s steal and runout jam capped a quick 6-0 burst and Amundsen’s open 3-pointer from out high gave the Big Green a 28-19 cushion. The Bears called timeout with 5:22 left looking to stem the tide. 

“The game totally flipped in the first half,” Martin said. “We struggled to put the ball in the basket and some of our mistakes led to easy points for them.” 

Brown (7-13, 1-6) suffered through a 4:40 stretch without a field goal and Dartmouth enjoyed a 14-point lead when Abusara scored at the rim, stole the following inbounds pass and fed Jayden Williams for a monster two-hand jam. That prompted another Bears timeout with 2:09 to play, and they clawed back a couple points before entering the locker room in a 37-26 hole.  

“There’s no secret sauce,” Martin said. “If I had it I would have already done it. It was a team obviously built to be a great defensive team."

DARTMOUTH (77): Brandon Mitchell-Day 2-5 2-2 6, Jayden Williams 2-8 5-5 10, Jackson Munro 4-7 2-2 12, Kareem Thomas 3-8 10-10 17, Connor Amundsen 6-9 2-4 16, Cameron McNamee 2-5 2-2 7, Nikola Abusara 2-4 1-2 5, Anton Strelnikov 2-4 0-1 4, Ben Brown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 24-28 77. 

BROWN (70): Landon Lewis 8-20 5-8 21, Jeremiah Jenkins 3-10 3-4 10, Adrian Uchidiuno 1-9 2-2 4, Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson 2-7 0-1 5, David Rochester 2-3 0-0 4, Isaiah Langham 1-5 2-2 5, Luke Paragon 3-5 0-0 8, N’famara Dabo 2-4 0-0 4, Charlie O’Sullivan 3-8 0-0 9. Totals 25-71 12-17 70. 

Halftime – D, 37-26. End of regulation – 65-65. 3-point FG – D 7-26 (Mitchell-Day 0-1, Williams 1-6, Munro 2-4, Thomas 1-5, Amundsen 2-3, McNamee 1-4, Abusara 0-1, Brown 0-2), B 8-27 (Lewis 0-1, Jenkins 1-6, Uchidiuno 0-4, Wrisby-Jefferson 1-3, Langham 1-2, Paragon 2-3, O’Sullivan 3-8). Rebounds – D 33 (Mitchell-Day 7, Munro 7), B 47 (Lewis 14). Assists – D 10 (Amundsen 4), B 13 (Jenkins 6). Turnovers – D 14 (Williams 5), B 15 (Team 3). Blocked shots – D 10 (Munro 4), B 4 (Lewis 2). Steals – D 6 (Abusara 2), B 7 (Wrisby-Jefferson 3). Attendance – 689. 

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown men's basketball loses to Dartmouth 77-70 on January 31, 2026