Wright Ties Leede Arena Record in 79-56 Victory

Sunday, November 29

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-2

LIU Brooklyn

3-2

LIU Brooklyn

Dartmouth

Wright Ties Leede Arena Record in 79-56 Victory

11/29/2015 3:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery Highlights Interview: Miles Wright Postgame of LIU Brooklyn, Nov. 29, 2015 Archived Broadcast Box Score (HTML)

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — Sophomore Miles Wright exploded for a career-high 39 points to tie the Leede Arena scoring record and lead Dartmouth to its first victory of the season in a 79-56 triumph over LIU Brooklyn (3-2) on Sunday afternoon in the Big Green's home opener. Dartmouth (1-2) also got a double-double from senior Connor Boehm with 11 points and 11 rebounds to win its home opener for the fourth straight year.

Wright posted a final line of 13-of-22 field goals, including a blistering 7-of-9 from long range (draining all five attempts in the second half), while converting 6-of-7 foul shots for his 39 points. Only Vermont's Eddie Benton had ever scored as many in the building, which opened in the 1987-88 season, although it came in a losing effort as the Big Green bested the Catamounts on Jan. 11, 1994, by a final of 87-82.

“Sometimes you just get the hot hand and that is what happened today,” Wright said after the game. “I just hit a couple of shots early and I just kept going. My teammates got me in the right position to score and I just kept trying to put it in the basket. Coach Cormier always tells me that when I get rebounds, I'm playing more aggressively. So when I'm doing that, it leads to more points, blocks, steals, and I just have to stay in that mindset.”

While Boehm provided Dartmouth's first points of the afternoon with a three-pointer — the only one Wright didn't produce — Wright tallied 12 of the next 14 as the Big Green built up an early 17-6 lead. The Blackbirds were not deterred, climbing back to even at 22 apiece thanks to an 11-1 run as Martin Hermannsson — who led LIU Brooklyn with 15 points — popped a three-pointer and a pair of free throws, and Glenn Feidanga capped the run with a couple of buckets.

When Iverson Fleming drained a three-pointer following a Wright basket in the paint to break the run, the Blackbirds had their first lead, 25-24, since it was 2-0. But Boehm answered right back with a putback, and Wright provided the final three points of the half to give Dartmouth a slim 30-27 lead at the intermission.

Wright was well on his way to his career-best performance with 17 points over the opening half, knocking down 7-of-15 field goals with a pair of triples to go with five rebounds. His teammates struggled to find the range, however, sinking just 4-of-17 from the floor for a team percentage of 34.4 percent. LIU Brooklyn wasn't much better at 35.7 percent (10-of-28), but the Blackbirds had the edge on the boards at 25-18.

As good as Wright was in the first half, his best work was yet to come. He opened the second stanza with a three-pointer, then was fouled shooting a three and converted all three foul shots for 38-29 lead. Two more free throws, another three-pointer and a layup gave Wright 13 of the first 17 Big Green points as the sophomore reached 30 points with nearly 15 minutes to play, boosting Dartmouth's lead to 13 at 47-34.

Wright traded three-pointers with Fleming before Hermannsson started an 8-0 run with a layup and a trifecta, slicing the Blackbird deficit back to five at 50-45. It was time for the Big Green supporting cast to subdue the rally as senior captain Tommy Carpenter laid one in off one of point guard Malik Gill's six assists on the day.

Freshman Evan Boudreaux, who tallied 13 points, provided six of the next eight Dartmouth points, sandwiching a layup between four free throws, boosting the advantage back to 10 points. Those last two freebies ignited a 14-0 run that put the game away as Wright splashed in his final two three-pointers to tie the record. When the final media timeout arrived with 2:20 to play, Wright had to settle for tying the record as he gave way to the bench with the Big Green sporting a 21-point lead.

Dartmouth, which shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) overall in the second half and 5-of-6 from downtown, also did a much better job on the boards after halftime and finished with a slight edge in rebounding, 37-34, with 15 coming on the offensive end leading to 21 second-chance points. The Big Green assisted on 18 of their 25 buckets and converted 21-of-30 at the foul line.

Wright wasn't just a scorer on this afternoon as he hauled in six rebounds, stole the ball three times, blocked a shot and dished out an assist while turning the ball over twice. Boudreaux scored more than half of his 13 points at the line, knocking down 7-of-9, while adding seven boards.

Joining Hermannsson in double figures were Fleming with 14 points and Aakim Saintil with 11 thanks to 3-of-4 from three-point range. As a team the Blackbirds shot 40 percent (22-of-55) and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) on three-point attempts. LIU Brooklyn's leading scorer, Jerome Frink, was held to just six points as he was in and out of foul trouble. As a team the Blackbirds attempted just six free throws, converting four, against a Dartmouth squad that had averaged 28.5 fouls entering the game, more than any Division I program in its first two games.

Dartmouth will hosts twin-state rival Vermont on Wednesday, Dec. 2 in the second of three games during this homestand. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Leede Arena. LIU Brooklyn returns home to take on UMass Lowell on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

Notes: The Dartmouth single-game scoring record is held by Jim Barton '89, who tallied 48 points at Brown in a 98-96 overtime loss on Feb. 7, 1987 ... this was the Big Green's first victory over LIU Brooklyn in three meetings with the last taking place in 1968 ... Boehm's double-double was his first this season and fifth of his career.