Griffin Rips the Nets for 29 in 66-62 Win

Saturday, November 19

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-2

BRYANT

1-3

Bryant

Dartmouth

11/19/2011 10:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth junior R.J. Griffin conveniently hit 7-11 from downtown to score a career-high 29 points — 19 in the second half — as the Big Green fended off Bryant on Saturday evening at Leede Arena, 66-62, for their first victory of the young season. Freshman Gabas Maldunas contributed his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Dartmouth (1-2), while four Bulldogs scored in double figures for Bryant (1-3).

Griffin drilled 8-of-16 field goals on the night including those seven triples, while sinking all six of his foul shots to produce his career night. The 29 points are the most by a Dartmouth player since Alex Barnett tallied 30 against Harvard on Jan. 24, 2009. In addition, he grabbed four rebounds and dished out a trio of assists.

The way the game began, it didn't look like it would be the Big Green's night. Bryant scored the first seven points of the game in the opening three minutes, capped by a three-point play by Frankie Dobbs. But it would take the Bulldogs more than 12 minutes to equal that total as Dartmouth went on an extended 31-7 run. Griffin drained a pair of free throws and a three-pointer early in the run, but it was Maldunas who gave Dartmouth the lead — one it would not relinquish — at 11-10 on an easy layup following a swift interior pass by freshman forward Jvonte Brooks.

Griffin rained in another three and two more foul shots during a 9-0 spurt to extend the Big Green advantage to double digits at 22-12. Two free throws by Bryant's Claybrin McGrath did little to slow Dartmouth as it reeled off nine more points to boast its largest lead of the night at 31-14. Freshman John Golden capped the run with a two-hand jam after Griffin picked a pocket and passed ahead.

Bryant managed to score the final five points of the half to head into the locker room trailing by 10 at 36-26. To that point, rebounding was the difference in the game as the Big Green claimed seven offensive caroms and turned them into 11 second-chance points while the Bulldogs had just one offensive board for two points.

In the second stanza, Dartmouth began a little sluggishly as Bryant pulled within six thanks to dunks by Vladyslav Kondratyev and Alex Francis. But back-to-back three-pointers by Griffin and Trotter doubled the difference to 12 at 42-30. Corey Maynard answered back with a long-range bomb of his own, only to have freshman Mack McKearney match it at the other end for the Big Green with 14:54 left in the game.

For the next 12 minutes, Griffin would be the only player to score for Dartmouth, tallying 14 on a long jumper and four trifectas. It wasn't until the end of that stretch that the Bulldogs were able to cut the deficit under seven points when Francis converted two foul shots with 2:45 to play, making it a 59-54 game.

Those two free throws were actually part of an 11-1 run for Bryant spanning just over two and a half minutes, capped by a Francis dunk and a Maynard three-pointer with 1:05 to play. Yet the young Dartmouth team did not succumb to the run, although Maldunas managed to sink just the first of two free throws. Fortunately, senior David Rufful was able to corral the rebound, which led to two more tries at the charity stripe for Maldunas, both of which he converted for a four-point edge, 63-59 with just 22 seconds left on the clock.

Bryant raced down the court and missed a shot, then was whistled for an intentional foul. Dartmouth hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 12 seconds to secure the victory.

Dartmouth entered the game having been outrebounded by an average of 16.5 boards but went to work on the glass, cleaning up 34 rebounds to just 25 for the Bulldogs. Joining Maldunas with a strong game on the blocks was Brooks with eight rebounds, five on the offensive end. Overall, the Big Green enjoyed a 20-4 advantage in second-chance points on the night.

Francis, averaging over 21 points in Bryant's first three games, led the Bulldogs with 14 points and eight rebounds. Dobbs (with 13 three-pointers to his credit this year) was held without a single one while tallying 12 points, eight from the line, with a game-high seven assists.

Next up for Dartmouth is the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. The team flies to Alaska on Monday to prepare for the three-game tournament, starting with San Francisco on Wednesday with tip time at 8:30 p.m. locally (12:30 a.m. on Thursday in Hanover). Bryant will play its fifth consecutive game outside of Rhode Island when it heads to West Point to take on Army on Tuesday at 7 p.m.