Flurry of Big Red Three-Pointers Bury Dartmouth at Cornell, 96-76

Saturday, February 19

Ithaca, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Cornell

Flurry of Big Red Three-Pointers Bury Dartmouth at Cornell, 96-76

2/19/2011 10:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

ITHACA, N.Y. — The blustering snow outside wasn't the only flurry going on in Ithaca on Saturday night as the Cornell Big Red men's basketball squad equaled a season high with 16 three-pointers to send visiting Dartmouth to a 96-76 defeat in Newman Arena. Errick Peck was one of three players for Cornell (7-17, 3-7 Ivy) to knock down 4-of-6 from long range while leading the Big Red with 22 points.

Dartmouth (5-19, 1-9 Ivy) tried to match Cornell shot for shot, hitting more than half of its shots for just the second time this year by draining 26-of-48 (.542) from the floor. But the Big Green's accuracy was no match for the barrage of bombs (16-of-29, 55.2 percent) Cornell tossed their way. Sophomore R.J. Griffin led four Dartmouth players in double figures with 18 points while grabbing five rebounds.

No less than six players had at least 10 points for the Big Red with Peck hitting 6-of-12 overall and 6-of-7 from the line for his 22 points. Point guard Chris Wroblewski had a trio of triples on the night among his 7-of-9 from the floor to tally 19 with a game-high nine assists. Both Max Groebe and Drew Ferry came off the bench to chip in 14 points while sinking 4-of-6 from behind the arc, and Jake Matthews and Johnathan Gray each had 10. Gray also snared 11 rebounds for a double-double.

The game began with Dartmouth providing the long-range show, drilling its first two three-point attempts of the game with Griffin and junior Jabari Trotter knocking them down for an early 6-2 lead. Cornell scored 12 of the next 15 points with Matthews and Peck each posting five on two free throws and old-fashioned three-point plays. But when freshman Nick Jackson popped a three, tying the game at 14, Wroblewski answered with the first Big Red trifecta of the game, opening the floodgates.

Wroblewski hit on another trey less than two minutes later, and after the teams traded layups, Jackson came back with another three for the Big Green. That was answered by Wroblewski again, but not before stepping inside the arc. Ferry became the marksman of choice as he sank three straight bombs, interrupted only briefly by a baseline jumper by Dartmouth sophomore Mbiyimoh Ghogomu, as Cornell took its first double-digit lead at 33-23 with 7:02 to go in the first half.

Dartmouth was able to get to the free throw line in an attempt to slow the hot-handed Big Red as freshman Tyler Melville and Trotter each canned a pair, but the hits just kept coming. Groebe notched his first of the night, which was followed by Matthews banking a three from the right wing as the lead ballooned to 14 at 41-27. Melville wouldn't let the game get away before the break, scoring seven points in the final five minutes, but Wroblewski hit on a 15-footer before raining one last three before the horn sounded to make it 49-37. The 49 points are the most allowed by the Big Green in any half of play this year.

Both teams kept up their sizzling strokes in the second half as Dartmouth connected on seven of its first 10 shots with a pair of three-pointers. The Green failed to make up any ground, however, as Cornell did not miss on any of its first six shots, five outside the arc. Peck nailed four of those five treys, all coming in the first 4:05 of the second stanza, and Ferry added another. Even when the Big Red finally missed a shot, they got the offensive rebound and a putback.

Even though Cornell pumped its lead up to 19 with that putback, it could not completely shake off the Big Green. Junior David Rufful and Trotter each hit three-pointers, sandwiching a Griffin layup, as Dartmouth pulled back to within 11. Free throws by Griffin and senior Clive Weeden cut the deficit back into single digits briefly at 72-63, but Cornell went on the offensive again with a 17-2 run over little more than five minutes. Groebe popped a pair of threes during the outburst, as the Big Red opened up a 24-point advantage, 89-65, with 6:02 to play, putting the game out of reach.

Both Melville and senior Ronnie Dixon had 11 points for Dartmouth, and Trotter added 10 more. The Big Green enjoyed their best night at the line this year, converting 17-of-19 (.895) of their foul shots.

Dartmouth is back on the road next weekend when it heads to New Haven, Conn., to take on the Yale Bulldogs (12-12, 5-5 Ivy) on Friday at 7 p.m. Cornell will have to face the wrath of Princeton (20-5, 8-1 Ivy), which just suffered its first league loss tonight at Brown, in New Jersey on Friday at 7 p.m. as well.