Men Score 67-59 Victory at Drake

Tuesday, December 21

Des Moines, Iowa

8:05 PM

Dartmouth College

4-7

Drake

4-6

Dartmouth

Drake

12/21/2010 11:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

DES MOINES, Iowa — Junior David Rufful equaled his season-high of 17 points with a trio of three-pointers as the Dartmouth men's basketball team earned a 67-59 road victory at Drake on Tuesday evening in a game featuring 14 lead changes. Fellow junior Kirk Crecco fell a rebound shy of a double-double in his first career start as Dartmouth (4-7) ended a two-game skid. The host Bulldogs (4-6) were led by Ryan Wedel's 17 points but hurt themselves by hitting just 6-of-15 at the foul line.

Rufful hit 7-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-6 three-pointers, including two straight in the second half to give the Big Green a 50-46 lead. His performance was complemented by Crecco's 12 points and nine rebounds, tying for game-high honors with senior Clive Weeden. But the difference in the game came at the free throw line where Dartmouth converted 14-of-18 overall and all six in the final 45 seconds.

As against Iowa State on Sunday, the Big Green trailed by a single point after a seesaw battle in the first half, 31-30. The score was tied seven times and changed hands another five. Drake shot well in the opening stanza, hitting 5-of-11 (.455) from long range and 13-of-24 (.542) overall. At the other end, Dartmouth made up for hitting just 2-of-9 three-point attempts by crashing the offensive glass, in getting eight second-chance points compared to just two for the Bulldogs.

Early in the second half, Drake equaled its largest lead of the night at 38-32 following a three-pointer by Rayvonte Rice, who scored each of the Bulldogs' first seven points of the frame and 13 of his 15 on the night in the second half. Junior Jabari Trotter immediately answered with a triple of his own to slice the deficit in half. Three minutes later, Crecco cranked a trifecta to tie the score at 40.

For the next seven minutes, neither side enjoyed an advantage larger than two points before Rufful ripped the net with his back-to-back bombs. Trotter followed with a jumper from the right elbow to extend the Big Green lead to six at 52-46 with 7:32 on the clock.

The Bulldogs roared back with seven straight points to once again take a one-point lead at 53-52, with Rice providing the go-ahead bucket. Rufful blew through the defense for an easy layup, only to have Rice sink a short jumper in the paint while getting fouled by Rufful. He could not finish off the three-point play, however, and sophomore R.J. Griffin drained a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:54 remaining. His trey ended the back-and-forth struggle as the Big Green never trailed again.

Weeden made it a two-possession game at 59-55 with a nifty reverse layup under the hoop and just 1:37 to play. Drake's Seth VanDeest managed to make a pair of free throws — the only time all night the Bulldogs made both — but Rufful put Dartmouth up four again with a contested 14-foot baseline jumper.

Drake began to foul to slow the game down, but had to commit three fouls before the Big Green were sent to the line for a one-and-one. Dartmouth foiled the strategy by making all six free throws in the final minute, two each by Trotter, Crecco and Griffin.

Both teams collected 23 field goals and seven three-pointers for the game, but it was Dartmouth that finished strong. The Big Green went 5-of-8 from downtown in the second half and 10-of-12 at the line to secure the victory.

The Big Green pulled out their first win within the state of Iowa in 62 years — and first ever against a team from the state — without the services of senior point guard Ronnie Dixon, who was sidelined with a hand injury. Dixon led Dartmouth last year in scoring and has more than twice as many assists as anyone else on the team.

Dartmouth takes a break from the hardwood for the Christmas holiday, returning to the court on Thursday, Dec. 30 at Bucknell at 7 p.m. Drake plays host to Chicago State this Thursday, Dec. 23, at 7:05 p.m. before a brief holiday vacation.