Cornell's Outside Stroke Sends Men to 88-70 Loss

Saturday, February 20

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

5-19, 1-9Ivy

CORNELL

23-4, 9-1Ivy

Cornell

Dartmouth

Cornell's Outside Stroke Sends Men to 88-70 Loss

2/20/2010 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. — While Dartmouth's Ronnie Dixon was posting a career-high 20 points, Ivy-leading Cornell ripped the nets at a 57.1 percent clip (32-of-56) with 15 three-pointers to defeat the Big Green on Saturday evening in Leede Arena, 88-70. Ryan Wittman tallied a game-high 23 points with five triples to lead the Big Red (23-4, 9-1 Ivy) to their 11th win in the last 12 games. Dartmouth fell to 5-19 overall and 1-9 in the Ivy League one night after picking up its first conference victory of the year.

Wittman had 18 of his 23 in the first half, knocking down 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-9 from long range. He was not the only Big Red to find his stroke from the outside as the squad shot 60 percent (15-of-25) behind the arc with Geoff Reeves drilling 3-of-4. Louis Dale had 14 points, as did reserve Errick Peck who did not miss a shot all night. Seven-foot center Jeff Foote, the nation's leader in field goal percentage, had four field goals in five attempts to reach double figures with 10 points.

Dixon was just as effective as Wittman, going 8-of-13 from the floor with three treys in five tries. Sophomore David Rufful was the only other Big Green player to score in double figures with 11 points, but fellow sophomore Kirk Crecco pitched in a career-best eight points off the bench, all in the second half. As a team, Dartmouth drained half of its shots (26-of-52) for the third time this year, including a sizzling 63.0 percent (17-of-27) in the second half. The Big Green scored 49 points in the second stanza, their most for a half this season.

The game was decided, however, in the first half. Although Dartmouth jumped out to a 7-3 lead to start the game on a couple of Clive Weeden buckets and Dixon's first three-pointer, Cornell took control with an extended 27-4 run over more than seven minutes. Reeves hit back-to-back threes to start the run, and Wittman rained in two more trifectas on the next two Big Red possessions. Cornell scored the last 15 straight to take a 30-11 advantage before Dartmouth could stem the tide with a pair of Dixon buckets and a Weeden basket for a six-point spurt.

All told during the decisive run, Cornell went 10-for-10 from the floor with five three-pointers and 2-for-2 at the foul line, scoring on each of its 11 possessions.

Wittman went back to work after the six-point Big Green uprising, hitting consecutive three-pointers. The shots kept falling for the Big Red as they extended their lead to 23 by the break at 44-21. Cornell drained 9-of-13 (.692) from beyond the arc and was a slightly better 16-of-23 (.696) overall from the floor.

Dartmouth, meanwhile, managed just nine field goals at a 36 percent rate and one three-pointer. Only three players scored in the opening half, led by Dixon with nine, while Weeden and Rufful each chipped in six points.

The second half was even more of a scoring frenzy as the Big Red built their lead to as many as 29 on three occasions. But Dartmouth never gave in and kept attacking the basket. And with the three-balls going through the hoop (6-of-9), the Big Green were able to win a moral victory by outscoring Cornell in the half, 49-44.

Dartmouth also won the battle of boards — what few rebounds there were to collect — grabbing 29 to Cornell's 25. The seven three-pointers for the Big Green equaled their season high as well.

Dartmouth will continue its four-game homestand next Friday when the Yale Bulldogs (10-17, 4-6 Ivy) come to Leede Arena for a 7 p.m. game. The Big Red return to Ithaca for its final two games of the year, beginning with Princeton (16-7, 7-2 Ivy) in a battle with great implications for the Ivy League title. Game time is set for 7 p.m.