Big Green Cruise Past Mercer on the Road, 67-51

Tuesday, December 16

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-5

Mercer

5-5

Dartmouth

Mercer

Big Green Cruise Past Mercer on the Road, 67-51

12/16/2014 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Dartmouth

MACON, Ga. — The Dartmouth men's basketball team made its first-ever game against a team from the state of Georgia a memorable one as the Big Green handed Mercer its first home non-conference loss in over three years on Tuesday night at Hawkins Arena, 67-51. Juniors Alex Mitola and Kevin Crescenzi both drained four three-pointers, and freshman Miles Wright came off the bench to match Mitola with a team-high 14 points to lead Dartmouth (4-5) to the victory.

Ike Nwamu led host Mercer (5-5) with 13 points, but the Big Green defense held the Bears to 38.3 percent shooting (18-of-47) and outrebounded them, 33-25.

Wright scored all 14 of his points in the first half to help Dartmouth build an 11-point advantage at the break, and Crescenzi took over in the second half with all of his career-high four trifectas — in as many attempts — coming after halftime. The Big Green finished the night with a season-high 10 three-pointers in just 19 tries (.526) and drilled 24-of-49 field goals (.490) overall.

The first four minutes of the contest belonged to Mercer as it jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead by knocking down four of its first five field goals, including treys from Darious Moten and Nwamu. The rest of the game would belong to the Big Green.

Mitola jump-started the Dartmouth offense with his first three-pointer of the night, and freshman Taylor Johnson followed with a long triple. A hook shot in the post by senior wing John Golden kept the run going, and Wright got his first points with a putback and a three-pointer to conclude the 13-0 spurt.

A Jordan Strawberry trifecta ended a six-and-a-half-minute Bear scoring drought, but sophomore Wesley Dickinson pounded the offensive glass and laid one in before Wright sank a pair of free throws for a 21-13 lead and 8:19 on the clock.

After the Strawberry three, Mercer managed just three free throws for the next six-plus minutes. So when junior Connor Boehm (13 points) dropped two foul shots and Wright exploded to the rim on the break for a three-point play, the Big Green owned their first double-digit lead at 26-16.

Wright continued to attack the rim with two more buckets before the intermission, giving Dartmouth its biggest lead of the half at 30-18. Jestin Lewis briefly cut the deficit back to single digits with a three-pointer as Mitola answered right back with a trey of his own to allow the Green to take a 33-22 advantage into the locker room.

While Dartmouth was knocking down 48 percent (12-of-25) of its field goals with four triples, Mercer could only muster 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from the floor and just three field goals in the final 16 minutes of the stanza. The Big Green also held a decisive 19-10 edge on the glass, outscored the Bears in the paint, 14-4, and off turnovers, 14-5.

In the second half, Dartmouth never gave Mercer even a glimmer of hope to make a comeback. Only twice did the Bears cut the deficit below 10, and on both occasions Mitola immediately responded with a three-pointer.

Even when Mercer closed the gap to 10 one more time with 7:19 to play on a pull-up jumper by Nwamu, Crescenzi provided the quick answer with his third three-ball of the half to begin another 13-0 run. Boehm converted a three-point play to conclude a possession that lasted 1:15, and Crescenzi supplied a dagger from above the top of the key, which led to Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman to lift all of his starters. Boehm then hit two more freebies and senior Gabas Maldunas — who led all players with eight rebounds — drove to the hoop for two points and an insurmountable 64-41 lead with 2:54 to play.

Dartmouth returns to Hanover to host Northern Illinois (4-3) at Leede Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. Mercer concludes a four-game homestand on Friday at 7 p.m. as well when Bethune-Cookman comes to Macon.

Notes: This was the 2,670th game in Dartmouth history, which dates back to 1900-01, and not only the first against a team from the state of Georgia, but also the first within the state itself … the last time the Big Green beat a team that had won a game in the NCAA Tournament the previous year (Mercer beat Duke in the second round last year) was on Jan. 28, 2011 when they knocked off Cornell, 64-57, the year after the Big Red's run to the Sweet Sixteen … the last non-conference team to beat Mercer on its home court was South Dakota State on Nov. 23, 2011, 74-61 … the Bears entered the game 51-5 at Hawkins Arena since the start of the 2011-12 campaign … Mitola has scored in double figures in 13 straight contests, and Boehm has done it the last seven … since starting 1-4, the Big Green have won three of their last four.