Cold Shooting Plagues Big Green in Season-Opening Loss

Saturday, November 13

Providence, R.I.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

0-1

Providence

1-0

Dartmouth

Providence

Cold Shooting Plagues Big Green in Season-Opening Loss

11/13/2010 8:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Vincent Council led four Friars in double figures with 18 points as host Providence (1-0) swarmed Dartmouth in an 87-52 victory on Saturday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in the season opener for both teams. Big Green sophomore R.J. Griffin had a team-high 12 points, while rookie Lithuanian Gediminas Bertasius pitched in 10 for Dartmouth (0-1).

While Providence ripped the nets at a 55.9 percent clip (33-of-59), its defense put the clamps down on the Big Green shooters, holding them to just 25.4 percent (16-of-63) overall and 15.0 percent from long range (3-of-20). The Friars also dominated the boards, 52-28, but Dartmouth did force 20 turnovers.

Joining Council in double figures for Providence were Gerard Coleman with 17 points, Bryce Cotton off the bench with 15 and Marshon Brooks with 13. Bilal Dixon was the big man on the boards with 11 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.

Half of Griffin's points came at the line where he was a perfect 6-of-6, and Bertasius had a team-best four field goals.

Providence quickly jumped on top and, after a little more than 10 minutes, held a 19-3 advantage. The only Big Green points during the game-opening run came on a trifecta by junior Jabari Trotter. Coleman had seven straight points during the run while Council pitched in six.

With 7:46 left in the half, Trotter fed senior Clive Weeden, who scored on a layup and was fouled. Although he missed the free throw, the play was the first of 12 three-point opportunities, and one four-point play during the game — seven for Providence, six for the Big Green.

By the end of the half, the Friars led by 25, 46-21, with Council scoring 15 of his 18 points in the opening stanza. As a team, Providence shot a blistering 63.0 percent (17-of-27) before the intermission while hitting half of its 10 three-point attempts.

For the first five-and-a-half minutes of the second half, Dartmouth got its offense on track, scoring 12 points with five from Bertasius and another three on a triple by freshman Tyler Melville. But after Bertasius missed a free throw that would have completed a three-point play, Brooks drained a three-pointer and was fouled. He converted the free throw for the four-point play, and next time down the court had a three-point play to boost the Providence lead over 30 for the first time in the game with 14:09 to play.

The lead reached as much as 41 twice during the final six minutes of the game before the Big Green scored eight of the final 10 points.

Next up for Dartmouth is its home opener on Tuesday evening against in-state rival New Hampshire. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Leede Arena. Providence hosts Yale on Monday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.