Dartmouth College
PRINCETON
Men's Basketball Ends Homestand With Decisive Victory Over Princeton
2/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Athletics
Saturday, February 23, 2008
HANOVER, N.H. ? Big Green men's basketball pulled off a historic 71-52 win tonight against the Princeton Tigers in Leede Arena, snapping a seven-game slide in the process. The winning margin is the largest that Dartmouth has had over Princeton since the Mar. 8, 1947 match-up in which the Big Green won 75-53.
Junior DeVon Mosley (Mesquite, Texas) scored a game-high 18 points, while teammates Alex Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.) and Elgin Fitzgerald (Colorado Springs, Colo.) came away with 16 and 10 points respectively. Barnett also pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds, while Fitzgerald went 4-for-4 from the foul line.
With regular starter Marlon Sanders (Cleveland, Ohio) noticeably absent from the bench, co-captain Michael Giovacchini (Salt Lake City, Utah) joined the starting lineup for the Big Green.
The first half started out slowly, as both teams played excellent defense to keep their opponents from the net. As the half wore on, however, Dartmouth began to break through the Princeton line, drawing a slight lead over the Tigers. After Princeton's Marcus Schroeder sank a three-pointer to put the score at 15-13, the Tigers hit a three-minute scoring drought. The Big Green grabbed the opportunity to break away and never looked back.
With 3:52 left to play in the half, Barnett stole the ball and whipped it to sophomore Robby Pride (Denver, Colo.), who broke towards the Dartmouth basket. With a Princeton defender closing in on him, Pride sent an extraordinary behind-the-back pass back to Barnett, who slammed the ball into the hoop. As the crowd went wild, the score was set at 29-19, with the Big Green in the lead.
Although Princeton was able to close the gap slightly in the final minutes, Dartmouth entered halftime leading by eight, 33-25.
Dartmouth charged out of the gate in the second half, as Giovacchini started it off for the Big Green with a three-point shot that stretched its lead to 11. From there, Dartmouth walked away, going on an 11-point run to put the score at 44-25. As part of the Big Green streak, Fitzgerald made two consecutive lay-ups and a foul shot to go on a one-man run o five points. The Tigers were unable to answer Dartmouth's run until nearly four minutes into the half, when Princeton's Noah Savage sank a free throw.
As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Princeton could only watch as Dartmouth pulled farther and farther ahead, stretching the lead to as much as 30 points. Princeton was able to use several free throw opportunities in the final minutes to close in on the Big Green, scoring seven points from the line. This last-ditch effort, however, was nowhere near enough to take the game, as the Big Green came away with the win, 71-52.
