Big Green Fall to Harvard in Ivy Opener, 57-46

Saturday, January 10

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

6-7, 0-1Ivy

Harvard

10-3, 1-0

Harvard

Dartmouth

Big Green Fall to Harvard in Ivy Opener, 57-46

1/10/2015 8:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery Highlights Full Archived Broadcast Box Score (HTML)

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — Harvard held Dartmouth to 33.3 percent shooting and Corbin Miller drilled four three-pointers to post 16 points to lead the visiting Crimson (10-3, 1-0 Ivy) to a 57-46 victory over the Big Green (6-7, 0-1 Ivy) on Saturday night at Leede Arena in front of a crowd of 1,867 in the Ivy League opener for both squads. Dartmouth junior Connor Boehm matched Miller with four triples and 16 points, but Harvard had three others in double figures and shot an even 50 percent (22-of-44) for the game.

Although the Big Green forced 17 Crimson turnovers, Harvard enjoyed a 34-26 advantage on the boards to overcome its miscues. Steve Moundou-Missi led all players with nine caroms for the Crimson, and Kenyatta Smith had seven to go along with 11 points. Joining Miller and Smith in double figures were Siyani Chambers and Wesley Saunders with 10 apiece.

Boehm knocked down 4-of-5 from the outside and 6-of-13 overall to account for his 16 points, and senior Gabas Maldunas added 10 with a team-high seven rebounds.

The Harvard defense was difficult to crack right from the outset of the game as Dartmouth managed just one field goal in the first nine minutes. But despite running out to a 6-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes, the Crimson could not take advantage and managed just two points over a six-minute stretch.

Senior John Golden drove in the lane and double-clutched to avoid a block to tie the score at eight with a layup. That was the only time the score would be tied the rest of the night as Miller hit consecutive three-pointers to give Harvard a six-point advantage.

After a three-pointer by the Big Green's leading scorer on the season, Alex Mitola, Miller drilled a shot from just inside the arc, which Boehm answered from the baseline. Miller then hit another triple to provide 11 straight Crimson points for a 19-13 lead.

Harvard built its lead to 10 during the final minute of the first half, but Boehm hit a three-pointer a few seconds before the buzzer to keep the Dartmouth deficit in single digits with the score 27-20 at the intermission.

The Big Green shot a mere 26.9 percent (7-for-26) overall and 20 percent (2-of-10) from downtown over the first 20 minutes, but were a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. The Crimson, meanwhile, canned 12-of-23 (.522) from the floor with a trio of treys, but missed both of their free throws while coughing the ball up nine times.

A Chambers three-pointer and a Miller jumper in the first three minutes of the second stanza boosted the Harvard lead back to double digits at 34-23. But Dartmouth responded with a 10-4 spurt as Boehm provided the first five points, Mitola hit a trifecta and junior Malik Gill drove to the hoop, bringing the Green within five at 38-33 with just under 13 minutes to play.

Neither team scored for nearly four minutes until Harvard rattled off nine straight points for its largest lead of the night at 47-33. Gill finally ended a seven-and-a-half-minute scoring drought with a pair of foul shots, then quickly added two more before Maldunas laid one with 3:07 to play, the first Big Green field goal in almost 10 minutes.

Only once would Dartmouth get closer than eight points in the final three minutes as Boehm drained his career-high fourth three-pointer of the night with 1:36 to go to make it a 51-44 contest. But Harvard converted all six of its free throws down the stretch, and Agunwa Okolie provided the exclamation point with a dunk in the final minute of play.

The Crimson have now won 11 straight in the series against Dartmouth, and Mitola was held to six points, ending his streak of 16 games in double figures dating back to last year.

Dartmouth returns to the hardwood on Wednesday evening at Twin-State rival Vermont at 7 p.m. Harvard also plays on the road on that date and at that time when it travels across town to take on Boston College.

Notes: Boehm doubled his season three-point total for the second straight game. He hit two at Bryant on New Year's Eve to give him four on the season … Dartmouth still holds a 94-85 lead in the all-time series against Harvard, but the Crimson have won 26 of the last 31 meetings … only six players scored for either team.