HANOVER, N.H. – When Dartmouth made its inaugural appearance in the Ivy League Tournament last March, Kareem Thomas was what in hockey parlance is called a healthy scratch, he never saw the court.
In fact, other than blowouts, Thomas never played more than two minutes in any game as a freshman as he struggled to adjust to the college game.
Fast forward a few months, and Monday night everyone at Leede Arena knew who was getting the ball in a tied game on the final possession, including the Princeton coaching staff: Kareem Thomas.
And Thomas delivered. His jumper with 0.6 seconds left gave the Big Green what could be a massive 71-69 win in its quest to return to Ivy Madness, as they are now tied atop the league standings at 3-1 (with Yale and Harvard).
“Just a lot of hours in the summer, and that brings confidence to me and to my teammates and coaches,” Thomas said. “Just for the coaches to be able to say what the play call was and say, ‘Reem, go score for us’, that’s a testament to how much they trust me and the work I put in so I’m very blessed.”
Thomas – now third in the Ivy in scoring at 18.3 points per game – finished with 22 Monday including Dartmouth’s final nine. Trailing 67-64, his three-pointer tied things with 1:45 left and then his massive dunk with 44 seconds left gave the Big Green (9-8, 3-1) their first lead of the second half. After Landon Clark tied it with two free throws, Thomas drove to the basket, but was rejected by Jacob Huggins, but made no mistake after he got the ball again on the ensuing inbound play.
“I just saw the open lane and my teammates have always been telling me to dunk the ball,” Thomas said. “I always like to lay it up and keep the stress off the knees, but the lane was open and I had to dunk it. For the last play, just a lot of reps. All those reps pay off.”
It was a game Princeton looked to have in hand up 67-58 after a Jackson Hicke (28 points) layup with 5:37 left, but the Tigers would get two points and no field goals the rest of the way as the Dartmouth defense stiffened and forced the young Tigers into several difficult shots.
Dalen Davis, who missed nine games with an ankle injury (of which Princeton lost eight) scored 11 points in the first half, but re-aggravated the injury early in the second. He was able to return, but finished with just 13 points in 18 minutes before fouling out.
“I just thought we did a better job guarding the three-point line, and I thought we just did a better job of being physical without fouling,” Dartmouth coach David McLaughlin said. “In the first half, we were fouling on deep drives, but we just made them take tough shots. As long as you’re rebounding, that usually works.”
The Tigers and Big Green have both played much slower this season, and this contest featured a plodding 60 possessions, which seemed to be playing into the hands of Princeton (6-13, 2-2), who had just one turnover in the game, but it was controversial, a 10-second violation up 67-62 that Mitch Henderson thought his team beat.
Last season, it was Princeton who stole the game in Hanover with a massive comeback late as Xaivian Lee carried them and won it in the final seconds. But with Lee at Florida, it was Thomas who stole the show this time around. After not attempting a single three-point shot last season, Thomas is 27-for-52 from behind the arc in 2025-26 (51.7%, good for 11th nationally), and is clearly the Big Green’s go-to player when they need a basket.
But Dartmouth also got big contributions from senior Brandon Mitchell-Day, who had just five points but 14 rebounds as well as patrolling the paint on defense, and freshman Cam Hiatt, who had 10 points and a pair of three-pointers.
“Many would probably say we wouldn’t have won this game a couple of years ago,” Mitchell-Day said. “I think we always had the pieces, it’s just a matter of, as coach says, belief. I think our class has done a great job of trying to bring that belief back. That’s what I want to leave after I leave here.”
In a season where the margin between qualifying for Ivy Madness and not could be razor thin, it was a massive night for Dartmouth and Kareem Thomas.
“Obviously everyone you recruit, you have a vision for them. We knew Kareem had extreme talent for a guard his size. Also, kids his age get bigger and stronger. Last spring, the coaches met with each player and we were pretty direct with Kareem with what we thought he could be. I’m not sure we expected this, but we really felt he could contribute as a sophomore. He works hard. He says it and he means it. He’s willing to be coached really hard and be held accountable, and it really shows.”