Men Top Lyndon State for Second Win, 83-54

Sunday, December 13

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

LYNDON STATE

12/13/2009 7:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. — Sophomore point guard Jabari Trotter led four Dartmouth players in double figures with a season-high 16 points as the Big Green defeated visiting Lyndon State (4-5), 83-54, on Sunday afternoon at Leede Arena. Freshman R.J. Griffin had a season-best 12 points, while sophomore David Rufful had 13 and senior Robby Pride chipped in 10 for Dartmouth (2-6) to help offset a game-high 24 points by Avery King of the Division III Hornets.

With a barrage of layups and short jumpers, the Big Green enjoyed their best shooting game of the year thus far at 55.7 percent (34-of-61). Trotter was 7-of-12 with a couple of three-pointers, Rufful 6-of-12 and Griffin 4-of-6 with a triple while going 3-for-4 at the line.

The Dartmouth defense, stifled Lyndon State, particularly in the second half when the Hornets hit just 9-of-33 (.273) of their field goals. Overall, LSC sank 35.1 percent (20-of-57) for the game, the lowest for a Big Green opponent this year.

The Hornets proved to be pests during the opening half and owned a 22-19 lead after 11 minutes following a King jumper from the right wing and a Mike Norcross layup. The Dartmouth offense heated up, however, with Rufful scoring back-to-back layups followed by a 12-footer by Griffin. A Marlon Sanders three-pointer capped the 9-0 run as Dartmouth opened up a six-point advantage, 28-22. That started a stretch in which the Green canned 9-of-13 (.692) for the rest of the half.

After Lyndon State converted a pair of layups, Dartmouth rattled off eight straight with a three-point play by freshman Matt LaBove and a Trotter three-pointer. The two sides traded buckets before Griffin beat the shot clock with a trey, giving Dartmouth its largest lead of the half at 13 points. Jason Gray dropped in two free throws for the Hornets just before the half expired to make it a 41-30 game at the break.

In the second half, Dartmouth could not shoo away the Hornets for the first five minutes as King scored the first five points on a deep three and a layup, cutting the deficit to six. The lead was trimmed to five with 16:08 showing on the clock when Logan Calkins followed a Gray jumper with a layup, making it a 44-39 game.

The Big Green asserted themselves from that point forward, going on a 15-2 run to put some space between them and Lyndon State. A Pride layup got the lead back to 10, and Trotter kept it in double figures for good with his second triple for an 11-point edge, 52-41. Griffin scored five straight points with three free throws and a jumper before Trotter came up with a steal in the backcourt and raced down the court for a layup.

King ended the run with a high-arcing three-pointer, but Trotter and junior Clive Weeden answered with easy layups. A Rufful layup with 5:34 to play boosted the lead over 20 points for the first time at 67-46. King had one more spurt in him with a three-point play and a 17-footer, but sophomore Kirk Crecco tallied six points in the final three-and-a-half minutes and Pride finished the game with a three-point play to put him in double figures.

Pride had a solid game overall with career highs with five steals and five assists to lead the team. Rufful equaled his career-best with five helpers, while Weeden had a team-best 10 rebounds and junior Ronnie Dixon grabbed a personal-best six boards.

Dartmouth had a height advantage and outrebounded the Hornets, 38-33, but Gray, a 6-4 freshman, led all players with 12 rebounds for LSC. King, also a freshman, finished the game 9-of-20 from the floor and 3-of-7 from downtown to just surpass his season average of 22.5 points per game.

Next up for Dartmouth is a game at Lehigh (3-5) on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks have lost their last three contests, but have not played since Dec. 5. Lyndon State has four weeks off before returning to the court on Jan. 10 to start a five-game homestand beginning with Middlebury at 4 p.m.