Tale of Two Halves in 65-61 Loss to Holy Cross

Saturday, December 31

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-11

HOLY CROSS

6-7

Holy Cross

Dartmouth

Tale of Two Halves in 65-61 Loss to Holy Cross

12/31/2011 4:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth led for the first 33 minutes of the game, and by as many as 15 points during the first half, but visiting Holy Cross put the clamps down on defense in the second stanza to escape Leede Arena with a 65-61 victory over the Big Green. Devin Brown had 18 points, 14 coming in the final four-and-a-half minutes, to help the Crusaders (6-7) post their first road win of the season. Senior Jabari Trotter led four Dartmouth players in double figures with 15 points as the Big Green (3-11) dropped their fourth straight contest.

In the first half, Dartmouth ripped the nets at a 57.1 percent clip overall (16-of-28) and from three-point range (4-of-7) in building up a nine-point lead at the intermission, 37-28. But the shots didn't fall in the second half for the Big Green as they connected on just 8-of-27 (.296), with two of the eight field goals coming in the final 20 seconds when Dartmouth was desperately trying to catch up with Holy Cross.

At the other end of the court, the Crusaders converted 48.1 percent (26-of-54) of their field goals, including 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half. Of their 37 points after halftime, 20 came from the paint. Holy Cross outscored Dartmouth, 34-16, in the paint for the game and also had the edge on the boards, 36-27.

The Big Green jumped out to an early 11-2 lead after barely four minutes had expired as freshmen Gabas Maldunas and Jvonte Brooks accounted for all 11 points. Brooks scored again on a layup to make it a 13-5 game, then junior R.J. Griffin got in on the act with a pair of three-pointers. Another triple by freshman John Golden off the glass had Dartmouth enjoying a 22-7 advantage.

Holy Cross scored 17 of the next 22 points over a seven-minute span, however, to climb back within three, only to have the Big Green right the ship with buckets from five different players over the final four minutes of the half to take that nine-point lead into the locker room.

The two sides traded buckets for the first eight minutes of the second half before Jordan Stevens stroked a three-pointer to cut the Holy Cross deficit to one at 46-45. Brooks knocked down a pair of free throws before Dave Dudzinski laid one in for the Crusaders. With 7:08 left in the game, Holy Cross had its first lead of the afternoon when Brown hit a short jumper in the paint.

Dartmouth quickly responded when Trotter canned a 13-footer on the baseline the next time down the court, but the Crusaders went up for good just seconds later on two Dudzinski free throws. Brown took over from there, scoring the final 14 Holy Cross points, first with a 15-footer to boost the lead to three. After a Maldunas hook shot fell through the iron, he drilled a three-pointer, then answered a Griffin 18-footer with another trey. He added a dunk and four free throws in the final minute to seal the outcome.

Brown finished the day 6-of-13 with two trifectas and 4-of-5 at the line to comprise his 18 points. Dudzinski added 14 on 6-of-11 shooting with a team-high eight rebounds, while Stevens came off the bench to contribute 11 points.

For the Big Green, Trotter was 6-of-15 overall and 3-of-7 from downtown for his 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half while the rest of the Dartmouth squad scored 11. Brooks, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, tallied a season-high 14 on 4-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the line, while Maldunas and Griffin each had 10 points. Maldunas also led all players with nine rebounds, narrowly missing out on his third double-double of the season.

Dartmouth rings in the new year by hosting Bucknell on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. Next up for Holy Cross is another Ivy League opponent when it travels to Yale on Jan. 3 for a 2 p.m. start.