Big Green Win Big Over Maine, 74-51

Saturday, December 6

Hanover, N.H.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-4

Maine

1-6

Maine

Dartmouth

12/6/2014 5:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — After winning one game at the buzzer and falling in the final five seconds the last two times on the court, the Dartmouth Big Green were not going to let luck play a role in their game against Maine on Saturday afternoon. Junior Alex Mitola scored a game-high 18 points with four three-pointers to lead Dartmouth (2-4) to a 74-51 victory over the visiting Black Bears (1-6) at Leede Arena.

The Big Green dominated in almost every aspect of the game, shooting just under 50 percent (26-of-53) from the floor and 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from three-point range, while holding Maine to just 32.0 percent (16-of-50) overall and a woeful 9.5 percent (2-of-21) from downtown. On the boards, Dartmouth had a decisive 41-31 edge, plus forced 15 turnovers with 10 steals that led to 19 points.

Of the 15 active players on the Big Green roster, 14 saw time on the court, but only junior Connor Boehm joined Mitola in double figures with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Classmate Brandon McDonnell came off the bench to lead Dartmouth with eight boards while chipping in seven points as well. Both Mitola and senior center Gabas Maldunas dished out four assists for half of the Big Green's total of 16.

Dartmouth took an 11-point lead into the break, 40-29, but Maine cut the deficit to six in the first four and a half minutes of the second stanza with a couple of baskets by Christian Ejiga and a layup by Troy Reid-Knight, who led the Black Bears with 11 points.

Beginning with a Mitola three-pointer, however, the Big Green recorded a 24-2 run while holding Maine without a field goal for more than 12 minutes. Boehm was on the receiving end of a fine pass from junior Tommy Carpenter for an easy layup, then returned the favor a minute later to boost the Dartmouth advantage to 54-38 with 10:37 to play.

Twice the Black Bears hit the first of two free throws, but Mitola cranked up his final trey of the day to keep the Big Green in control. A two-hand slam by McDonnell with 6:21 on the clock gave Dartmouth its first 20-point advantage at 61-40, and he added a three-pointer between two pairs of free throws by freshman Taylor Johnson to conclude the long run and give the Green their largest lead at 68-40.

Head coach Paul Cormier began to empty his bench as Maine scored eight straight points. But with Johnson taking the lead, Dartmouth kept the difference over 20 points as the rookie finished the game with nine points thanks to hitting 7-of-8 free throws.

The Big Green never trailed in the game as Maldunas scored the game's first points on a bucket under the basket off a feed from Boehm. Maine briefly knotted the score on an Aaron Calixte jumper, but when Mitola popped his first three of the day moments later, Dartmouth was off and running.

Junior Kevin Crescenzi sandwiched a single free throw between two three-pointers to give the Green their first double-digit lead with 7:37 left in the half at 23-13. Three times the Black Bears got the deficit back to six before the break, but after two foul shots by Shaun Lawton with 1:30 remaining, Mitola drilled a trifecta and sank a teardrop just before the buzzer sounded for an 11-point advantage.

Lawton, Maine's leading scorer entering the game, was held to seven points, and Reid-Knight came off the bench to produce the team's only two three-pointers. Ejiga matched McDonnell for game-high honors with eight rebounds.

Dartmouth next plays at UMass Lowell (6-3) — which lost to Cornell today, 71-60 — on Wednesday at 8 p.m., while Maine returns to Orono to host LIU Brooklyn on Tuesday at 7 p.m.