Albany Outshoots Dartmouth Men, 82-74

Friday, December 23

Albany, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-10

Albany

7-5

Dartmouth

Albany

12/23/2011 4:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

ALBANY, N.Y. — Senior Jabari Trotter had a seaosn-high 22 points with five three-pointers, but Albany got 23 points from Gerardo Suero and 20 more from Mike Black to send visiting Dartmouth (3-10) to an 82-74 defeat on Friday afternoon at SEFCU Arena. The Great Danes (7-5) converted 20-of-21 at the free throw line to send the Big Green to their third straight defeat.

Both teams shot the ball well as Dartmouth connected on 27-of-55 (.491) field goals and 12-of-20 (.600) from three-point range. Albany, however, was just as effective, going 26-of-54 (.481) overall and 10-of-18 (.556) from beyond the arc. The free throws were the difference as the Big Green went to the line just 11 times and sank eight compared to the 20-of-21 for Albany.

Trotter hit 8-of-10 of his field goals, including 5-of-6 from downtown, to give him just the second 20-point performance by a Big Green player this year (junior R.J. Griffin had 29 against Bryant on Nov. 19). Griffin added 12 points with a trio of triples, while freshman Jvonte Brooks chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds. The top Dartmouth player on the glass was freshman Gabas Maldunas with a season-high 13. The two rookies accounted for 21 of the Green's 29 rebounds.

While Dartmouth was setting a season high for points scored, Albany was tallying the most points by a Big Green opponent. Suero, averaging 21.4 points a game entering the contest, nailed 7-of-15 from the floor with a three-pointer while knocking down 8-of-9 at the line to account for his game-high 23 points. Black was even more efficient, draining 7-of-12, including 2-of-4 from long range, plus all four foul shots for his 20. And when he wasn't scoring, the point guard was creating offense for others, handing out seven assists to boot.

The Great Danes scored the first four points of the game, and nearly led wire-to-wire. Only a three-pointer by senior David Rufful three-and-a-half minutes into the game kept them from doing so, as Dartmouth owned a very brief 8-7 edge. Black immediately came down the court and popped a trey of his own, and Albany was on its way.

The Big Green were still down just two, 15-13, when freshman John Golden dropped in a layup with 13:43 to go in the half, but Jason Guerrier fueled a 17-3 Albany run over the next five-and-a-half minutes by swishing consecutive three-pointers for a 32-16 lead. Two minutes later, Luke Devlin bumped the bulge to 17 points — the Great Danes largest lead of the half — with a three-point play. By halftime, Albany was up by 15, 46-31, with Suero leading the charge with 13 points.

The Great Danes buried 16-of-28 from the floor in the opening stanza, and 7-of-12 three-pointers. But one of the biggest stats of the first half was Albany's pressure defense forcing 11 Dartmouth turnovers that led to 11 points. In the second half, the Big Green did a much better job of taking care of the basketball, coughing it up just twice.

Dartmouth scored seven of the first nine points of the second half to bring it within 10 points. Again Albany went on a surge, 15-4 over a five-minute span, ballooning the lead to 21 points when Guerrier capped the run with his third of three three-pointers on the day. The lead didn't remain in the 20s for long as Golden hit on a three-pointer of his own the next time down the floor.

The deficit hovered between 12 and 18 points until just 3:30 showed on the clock when Trotter tickled the twine for his fifth three-pointer. The Big Green were now within single digits at 78-69. But that would be as close as they would come until freshman Will McConnell hit on a trifecta — his first collegiate points — seconds before the final buzzer to complete the scoring.

Joining Suero and Black in double figures were Logan Aronhalt with 15 points and Devlin with 11. Both Black and Ralph Watts off the bench had five rebounds to lead the Great Danes, who owned a slim 30-29 advantage on the glass.

After playing four games in seven days, Dartmouth does not play again until New Year's Eve when it hosts Holy Cross at 2 p.m. Albany next plays at Maryland on Dec. 28 at 8 p.m.