Dartmouth Lags in Second Half in Loss to Columbia

Saturday, January 29

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-13, 1-3Ivy

COLUMBIA

12-6, 3-1Ivy

Columbia

Dartmouth

Dartmouth Lags in Second Half in Loss to Columbia

1/29/2011 9:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — After playing Columbia to a dead heat at the intermission, Dartmouth could not keep up with the Lions in the second half in a 66-45 loss at Leede Arena on Saturday night. Four players scored in double figures for Columbia (12-6, 3-1 Ivy), led by the Ivy's leading scorer, Noruwa Agho, with 16 points. Junior Jabari Trotter tallied 12 to pace the Big Green (5-13, 1-3 Ivy).

Agho had to work for his points, hitting just four his 13 shots on the night as the Dartmouth defense held Columbia to just 38.5 percent (20-of-52) overall. But Agho was 2-for-3 on three-pointers and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line to boost his numbers. Both Steve Frankoski and Brian Barbour contributed 13 points apiece, while Asenso Ampim came off the bench to tally 12.

Shooting woes in the second half derailed any chance of knocking off the Lions as the Green hit just 6-of-25 (.240) from the floor and 7-of-17 (.412) from the charity stripe. Dartmouth finished the game shooting 32.7 percent (16-of-49) and 44.0 percent (11-of-25) at the line. Trotter hit half of his 10 shots and provided the only two three-pointers of the evening for Dartmouth, while sophomore R.J. Griffin added 10.

The game began with the Big Green and Columbia going back and forth on the scoreboard until the Lions ran off eight straight points, getting baskets from four different players. Dartmouth fought back, eventually tying the game on a modest 6-0 spurt with four points from junior Kirk Crecco, only to have Agho and Barbour each drain shots from downtown on the next two possessions for a 21-15 Columbia lead.

The defense picked up for the Big Green, allowing just four points over the final 6:20, enabling the offense to chip away at the deficit again. Trailing by three with the clock closing in on zero, Trotter lofted a trifecta to send the teams into the locker room knotted at 25.

The stats at the break could not have been more even with both sides hitting 10-of-24 (.417) of their shots. Dartmouth enjoyed a small 16-14 edge on the boards and committed one less turnover, but the Lions hit a trio of treys to just the lone three by Trotter.

After the two teams traded baskets to begin the second stanza, Griffin gave the Green what turned out to be its final lead at 29-27 with a tough fadeaway shot from 17 feet out. Frankoski began a 12-0 Columbia run with a short jumper in the paint, and John Daniels finished it off with a three-point play following an Agho bomb. Even when Rufful ended the run with a bucket, Frankoski dropped another three-pointer on Dartmouth.

Ampim scored the next five Lion points, which was matched by five by Griffin and trumped by Trotter's other three. Dartmouth trailed by eight at 47-39 with just under nine minutes to play, but would never get any closer. A Daniels jumper boosted the Columbia lead back to double digits with 6:16 to play, and the Lions' defense made sure the Big Green did not come back, holding them to four points over the final 6:30.

Daniels finished the game with 12 of Columbia's 38 rebounds, while eight Dartmouth players had either three or four boards among the 34 hauled in by the Green. Distributing the ball was not in vogue as the Lions handed out just six assists on 20 baskets, and Dartmouth only four on 16 hoops.

While the Big Green were struggling at the line, Columbia made the most of its opportunities, going 20-of-25 (.800) on free throws, plus connected on 6-of-15 (.400) from downtown.

Next up for the Big Green are road games at Penn and Princeton this weekend, beginning with the Quakers on Friday, Feb. 4 at The Palestra at 7 p.m. Columbia continues a five-game road trip on Friday at Brown at 7 p.m.