Dartmouth Falls in Foul Fest at St. Francis, 69-61

Tuesday, December 14

Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-6

St. Francis (N.Y.)

6-3

Dartmouth

St. Francis (NY)

Dartmouth Falls in Foul Fest at St. Francis, 69-61

12/14/2010 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. — St. Francis (N.Y.) was able to survive against visiting Dartmouth in men's basketball action on Tuesday evening, 69-61, in a game featuring 61 free throw attempts, 55 fouls and four players fouling out. Akeem Johnson came off the bench to record a double-double for the Terriers with 22 points and 10 rebounds, helping St. Francis (6-3) win its fifth straight game. The leading scorer for Dartmouth (3-6) was also a reserve as junior Kirk Crecco tallied a career-high 19 points.

The Terriers could have had the game well in hand if they had simply made more free throws, converting just 18-of-36 (.500) at the charity stripe. But the Big Green wasn't much better at 14-for-25 (.560). Dartmouth also forced a season-high 23 turnovers which it converted into 22 points. Although both teams connected on 22 field goals, St. Francis shot better than 50 percent (22-of-43) and was 7-of-15 (.467) from three-point range, while the Green managed to shoot just 37.3 percent (22-of-59) overall and 3-of-9 from downtown.

Crecco entered the night having scored just 27 points in the first eight games, but he surpassed his career best of 11 points in the first half alone. The guard from Gilford, N.H., hit 8-of-14 from the floor — four buckets coming on putbacks — and grabbed six rebounds for his career performance.

The scoring over the first five minutes came fast and easy for both teams as Dartmouth hit its first five shots while St. Francis rained down a trio of threes — the last two by Justin Newton — for a 13-12 lead.

Crecco then scored the next 10 Big Green points, and in the midst of the run gave Dartmouth a brief 19-17 lead on a three-point play. But the Terriers rattled off nine straight points, all from interior players, before Crecco knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing to make it a 26-22 game with 4:22 until the intermission.

Dartmouth managed just one more field goal in the half, also by Crecco, while St. Francis extended its lead to 11 at 38-27. The Terriers left the court on a high note when Travis Nichols scored his only points of the game on a long three-pointer just three seconds before the buzzer sounded.

The boards were dominated by St. Francis in the opening stanza, nabbing 21 rebounds to just 14 for the Big Green. The second half proved to be a different story as Dartmouth ended up holding the advantage for the game at 38-36 with 19 offensive rebounds.

Both teams had trouble gaining any momentum after halftime as the flow of the game was chopped up by fouls, free throws and turnovers. Dartmouth was able to cut the lead down to six early in the half when senior Clive Weeden scored three of his 12 points on a three-point play. Within another four minutes, the Big Green had whittled the deficit down to a deuce as sophomore Matt LaBove and freshman Gediminas Bertasius had layups before Crecco provided a tip-in off a three-pointer that was off the mark.

Johnson and Crecco traded baskets, then Johnson added three more points with a foul shot and a layup. After a pair of free throws by freshman Tyler Melville, Stefan Perunicic rained down a high-arcing three-pointer to double the Terrier lead to six with 8:27 to play.

The differential remained between three and seven points thanks in large part to St. Francis missing 8-of-11 over the next seven minutes. When junior David Rufful sank a pair of free throws with just under a minute to play, the Terriers answered back with two of their own following Rufful's fifth foul, sending him to the bench.

A Dartmouth three-point attempt was off the mark, and the putback was blocked, leaving the Big Green no choice but to foul in hopes St. Francis would continue to miss at the line. Ricky Cadell foiled the desperate strategy by slipping both of his free throws through the hoop for a seven-point lead and 32 seconds to go, securing the victory.

Johnson was 7-of-10 on field goals but just 8-of-16 from the foul line. The Terrier's other Akeem — Akeem Bennett — also scored in double figures with 13 points but turned the ball over eight times.

Rufful led Dartmouth with seven rebounds while senior Ronnie Dixon doled out a career-best seven assists. Joining Crecco and Weeden in double figures was junior Jabari Trotter with 10.

The Big Green fly to Iowa for a pair of games in the hawkeye state, beginning with a game against the Cyclones of Iowa State on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. (CST). Next up for St. Francis is the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20 against Northwestern at 7 p.m. (EST).