Penn State Hands Dartmouth 69-49 Loss

Monday, December 22

University Park, Pa.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-6

Penn State

12-1

Dartmouth

Penn State

12/22/2014 6:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Dartmouth

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Dartmouth men's basketball team did not find an early Christmas present at Penn State on Monday afternoon as the Nittany Lions handed the Big Green a 69-49 defeat at the Bryce Jordan Center. D.J. Newbill led four players in double figures for Penn State (12-1), which won its 10th straight game, while junior Alex Mitola had 13 points for Dartmouth (5-6).

The Nittany Lions strung together runs of 13 and 12 points in the first half to open up a 25-point lead at the break, 41-16, then never let the Big Green make a serious run in the second stanza. Newbill sank 7-of-12 field goals with a pair of three-pointers to help the Nittany Lions shoot 46.9 percent (23-of-49) for the game, including 57.7 percent (15-of-26) in the decisive opening half. Geno Thorpe came off the bench to contribute 12 points while Brandon Taylor and John Johnson each posted 10.

Mitola was the lone Big Green player to hit double figures, knocking down 5-of-11 from the floor, but just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc for the Ivy League leader in three-pointers per game. Dartmouth entered the game leading the conference in three-point accuracy, but the PSU defense held the Big Green shooters as a group to just 2-of-20 (.100) from long range.

The Dartmouth offense was clicking inside early as junior Connor Boehm sank a jumper in the paint and senior Gabas Maldunas (nine points, team-high four rebounds) dropped in a couple of layups to take a 7-5 lead. But over the next eight-plus minutes, Penn State ripped off a 19-2 run — including 13 straight tallies — as Newbill led the charge with a trio of buckets to give the Nittany Lions a 24-11 lead.

Mitola broke the spell with a 17-footer above the free throw line, and after a Penn State three-pointer, Boehm and Mitola dropped in layups to keep Dartmouth within 12 points at 27-15.

Sophomore Wesley Dickinson dunks off an alley-oop pass from Malik Gill against Penn State on Monday afternoon. (courtesy Steve Manuel)

That Nittany Lion lead doubled in barely three minutes, however, as Newbill and Thorpe drained triples during a 12-0 spurt. Senior John Golden converted 1-of-2 free throws with nine seconds left in the half only to have Newbill drive to the hole and provide the exclamation point to the half with a dunk, allowing Penn State to take the 41-16 lead into the locker room.

The Big Green were held to 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from the floor while missing all nine three-point attempts. Penn State also forced eight Dartmouth turnovers and had 19 rebounds to just nine for the visitors. Newbill led the Nittany Lions with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting as the team shot a combined 15-of-26 (.577) with four trifectas.

In the second half, the shots started falling more frequently for the Big Green, but they could never make a run at getting back into the game. After a Newbill three-pointer gave Penn State its largest lead of the game at 46-20, Mitola answered with his trey on the break. A Boehm layup made it 46-25, but the difference would bounce back and forth between 21 and 25 points for close to 10 minutes except when freshman Miles Wright scored on a putback with 11:11 top play, making it a 55-35 contest.

Wright got Dartmouth within 20 again with 7:17 showing on the clock with a free throw, and shortly thereafter sophomore Wesley Dickinson took an alley-oop pass from junior Malik Gill on the break and slammed it home, leading Penn State to call a timeout.

A Newbill layup and a dunk by Ross Travis built the Nittany Lion lead back over 20 again, and only once more would the Big Green get closer than 20 thanks to a three-pointer from freshman Taylor Johnson. In the waning seconds, freshman Cameron Smith scored his first collegiate points on a 16-footer, bringing the score to its final resting place at 69-49.

Penn State finished the game with a 38-30 edge on the boards, while both teams committed 11 turnovers.

Dartmouth has more than a week off before playing again, traveling to Bryant for a 1 p.m. tip on New Year's Eve. Penn State opens up Big 10 play at Wisconsin that day as well at 12 p.m. (CST).

Notes: This was the first game between the two schools since 1973. Before that, Dartmouth beat the Nittany Lions in the 1942 NCAA Regional semifinals. Penn State now leads the all-time series, 3-2 … Mitola has scored in double figures in 15 straight games dating back to last year.