Men's Basketball Leads Wire-to-Wire in 49-43 Win

Monday, January 4

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

3-10

BUCKNELL

5-11

Bucknell

Dartmouth

Men's Basketball Leads Wire-to-Wire in 49-43 Win

1/4/2010 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. — Freshman R.J. Griffin knocked down four three-pointers while recording a season-high 16 points as Dartmouth (3-10) led wire-to-wire in a 49-43 victory over visiting Bucknell (5-11). The Big Green shot 45.2 percent (19-of-42) for the game and turned 15 Bison turnovers into 16 points to help snap a four-game slide.

The Dartmouth defense was stingy all night in holding Bucknell to 43 points and a paltry 30.6 percent (15-of-49) from the floor, both figures being the lowest for a Big Green opponent this season. The one glaring advantage for the Bison came on the boards where they grabbed 35 rebounds — 11 on the offensive end — compared to just 23 total caroms and three offensive rebounds for Dartmouth.

Griffin was not only the shooting star of the game, hitting 4-of-5 three-pointers and 5-of-8 overall, the 6-4 guard also turned out to be Dartmouth's top rebounder on the night with a personal-best seven rebounds. Coming into the game, Griffin for the season had hit just three from downtown and snared just seven boards.

The Big Green came out with great intensity, scoring 10 of the game's first 12 points. Sophomore David Rufful hit consecutive jumpers — one from each elbow — and sophomore Jabari Trotter was intentionally fouled after picking the pocket of a Bison, leading to two good foul shots.

After Bucknell's G.W. Boon knocked down a three-pointer, Dartmouth Griffin responded with his first triple of the game, then raised Boon with a layup for a 15-5 lead.

The Bison battled back with an 11-2 spurt, capped by a pair of Joe Willman buckets, to get within a point at 17-16. Then with the shot clock about to expire, Griffin launched another three-pointer that found nothing but net. When sophomore Josh Riddle followed with a 10-footer, Dartmouth had its lead back to six at 22-16.

Bucknell's Bryan Cohen and Griffin then traded trifectas, and with three minutes left in the half, both offenses went cold. The only points in that span came from Bison Mike Muscala on a short jumper in the lane, leaving the score at 25-21 at the half. Griffin had 11 of the Big Green's 25 points in the opening stanza.

Rufful set the tone for the second half by swiping a pass on the opening possession and going the length of the court for an easy finger roll. Four minutes later, Griffin dropped his fourth trey on Bucknell, starting a nine-point run as Dartmouth built its largest lead of the evening at 40-26 with 12:42 to play.

After Griffin converted two foul shots with 6:29 to go, the Big Green still had an 11-point advantage at 45-34. But Bucknell fought its way back with seven quick points, five from Boon including a three-pointer to cut the deficit to four at 45-41 with 4:39 left in the game.

Riddle and Stephen Tyree each scored a bucket for their respective sides, but that Tyree jumper with 3:57 left turned out to be the Bison's final points. Bucknell missed its final five shots and turned the ball over twice in the final minutes, failing to take advantage of three Dartmouth turnovers. The lone Big Green points in the last four minutes came with 11 ticks on the clock on a Trotter bucket in the lane.

Boon came off the bench to lead Bucknell with 12 points and nine rebounds (eight on the offensive end), but hit just 3-of-12 from the floor with two three-pointers. Patrick Behan was the other Bison in double figures with 10 points, hitting four field goals in seven attempts.

With its 45.2 percent shooting success, Dartmouth topped 40 percent for just the third time this season — winning each of those three games.

Dartmouth opens Ivy League play for its next game, traveling to Harvard on Saturday, Jan. 9 to take on the Crimson and their 10-3 record (before playing at Santa Clara on the West Coast this evening) at 2 p.m. Bucknell also starts play in conference this Saturday, hosting Patriot League foe Navy at 7 p.m.