First-Half Drought Dooms Dartmouth at Bucknell, 74-57

Thursday, December 30

Lewisburg, Pa.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-8

Bucknell

8-7

Dartmouth

Bucknell

First-Half Drought Dooms Dartmouth at Bucknell, 74-57

12/30/2010 9:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell rode a 24-2 run over a seven-minute stretch during the first half to defeat Dartmouth on Thursday night, 74-57, at Stojka Pavilion in the final game of the 2010 calendar year for both teams. Bryson Johnson fueled the run and scored all 14 of his points in the first half to lead the Bison (8-7) to their sixth win in their past seven games. The Big Green (4-8) were paced by junior Kirk Crecco's 11 points.

Johnson took just six shots on the evening for Bucknell to gather his 14 points, hitting four field goals including three three-pointers. He was joined in double figures by Darryl Shazier with 12 points and G.W. Boon off the bench with 10. On the boards, the Bison held a 41-28 advantage — all of which came in the first half at 24-9 — with Bryan Cohen gathering a game-high 10 rebounds.

After making six of its first 11 shots of the game, Dartmouth had a hard time finding the bottom of the net, finishing the game shooting 34.5 percent (20-of-58). Crecco went 3-of-7 from the floor but 5-of-6 at the line to accumulate his 11 points, while sophomore R.J. Griffin drained two of the Big Green's three triples on the night, scoring eight points, as did freshman point guard Tyler Melville in a reserve role.

The game started well for the Green as they took a 14-7 lead during the opening nine minutes. Junior David Rufful and Griffin each knocked down three-pointers while the Dartmouth defense allowed just three field goals and forced six turnovers during that stretch.

Bucknell quickly turned the tide, however, as Johnson took over the game by scoring nine consecutive points — the last coming on a four-point play — before senior Clive Weeden broke the run with a layup to tie the game at 16. Johnson answered with his third triple to extend his string to 12 points, and his teammates added 12 more before the Green could stem the tide as freshman Gediminas Bertasius converted a three-point play, making it a 31-19 contest.

By halftime, the Bison owned a 17-point lead at 44-27, with the last two points coming on free throws with seven seconds on the clock after Rufful was whistled for a foul and removed from the game with blood streaming from his face. The 6-4 wing did not return to the court in the second half.

Not only did Bucknell enjoy its 17-point lead and 15-rebound advantage at the break, it also hit 11-of-12 free throws in the opening stanza compared to just 1-of-1 for Dartmouth.

Trailing by 19 little more than two minutes into the second half, the Big Green put together a quick 8-0 spurt fueled by Crecco. The guard knocked down 3-of-4 at the line before nabbing a steal and taking it the length of the court for a layup before Griffin capped the run with a trifecta from the top of the key, But the 11-point deficit at 50-39 was as close as Dartmouth would come as the Bison answered the call with three straight buckets. The point differential remained between 17 and 21 points for the final 11 minutes of the game.

The loss ended Dartmouth's personal three-game winning streak against Patriot League teams which began with a 49-43 victory over the Bison last year in Hanover.

Dartmouth will play again after the new year is rung in, playing its last of five straight road games at Army on Monday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. Next up for the Bison is a trip to Richmond to play the Spiders on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 4 p.m.