Wright, Boudreaux Top 20, But Harvard Outlasts Big Green, 77-70

Saturday, January 9

Cambridge, Mass.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-9, 0-1Ivy

Harvard

7-8, 1-0Ivy

Dartmouth

Harvard

Wright, Boudreaux Top 20, But Harvard Outlasts Big Green, 77-70

1/9/2016 3:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Dartmouth

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Sophomore Miles Wright and freshman Evan Boudreaux both topped 20 points in Dartmouth's Ivy League opener at Harvard, but the Crimson countered with a career highs from Agunwa Okolie (29) and Patrick Steeves (20) to fend off the Big Green, 77-70, on Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.

Okolie hit just about everything he threw at the rim, going 9-of-11 from the floor, including his second three-pointer of the year in the final minute of play, and was a perfect 10-of-10 at the foul line to post his scoring line. Steeves did a majority of his damage behind the arc, popping 4-of-5 three-pointers and 7-of-13 overall. The duo combined to shoot 66.7 percent (16-of-24) while their teammates hit 41.4 percent (12-of-29) as Harvard (7-8, 1-0 Ivy) topped 50 percent for the game (28-of-53, .528).

For Dartmouth (4-9, 0-1 Ivy), Wright drilled 8-of-14 overall and 5-of-8 from long range as he tallied a team-high 23 points. Boudreaux not only had 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting with a pair of triples and 5-of-6 at the foul line, but also snared a game-high 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

The Big Green were enjoying a 36-28 lead in the final two minutes of the first half following a double-pump layup by freshman Guilien Smith, but Steeves' third three-pointer of the opening stanza and an Okolie layup pulled Harvard within three. With a shot-clock differential of about five seconds, Dartmouth held for a late shot, which was blocked before junior Mike Fleming quickly grabbed the rebound and put up a quick jumper. The shot was good, but was negated upon review for coming after the shot clock expired. Instead of a five-point lead going into the locker room, the Green had to settle for a tie as the Crimson raced up the floor and sprung Corey Johnson free for a long three-pointer.

Harvard continued its surge at the start of the second half with a 9-2 spurt, capped by the last Steeves triple of the afternoon, for a 45-38 advantage. But with the memory of last year's 14-point, second-half comeback still fresh, Dartmouth rallied to tie the game at 46, beginning with a Wright long ball and ending on a step-up 16-footer by senior Brandon McDonnell.

Three times in an 80-second span, senior Kevin Crescenzi — who chipped in 11 points — gave Dartmouth a lead. The third time came on a three-pointer, only to have the Crimson answer back each time to tie the score. Wright briefly denied Harvard of reclaiming the lead with his third block, but Zena Edosomwan hit from close range on an in-bounds pass with eight minutes to go, putting the Crimson on top for good.

The game was hardly settled at that point, however, as Dartmouth sliced the deficit to one four times (twice by Boudreaux). A baseline floater by Crescenzi made it a 63-62 game with just under four minutes to play, but Steeves got three the hard way, as did Okolie with 2:14 remaining for the Crimson's largest lead of the day at 70-62.

Two free throws and a Wright three-pointer quickly brought the Big Green back within three at 70-67. The two teams traded triples to keep it a three-point contest with 43 seconds left, but Dartmouth misfired on its last three field goals while Harvard sealed the victory with four foul shots.

The first half was a dead-even battle in many ways, beginning with Wright and Steeves as the former scored 15 and the latter 13 with both players drilling three shots from behind the arc. Okolie added 11 for Harvard while Boudreaux tallied nine, giving the two duos 24 points apiece in the first 20 minutes of action.

Dartmouth finished the game shooting 40.3 percent (25-of-62) and 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from distance against a defense that was holding opponents under 40 percent overall and 30 percent on three-pointers. The Big Green matched a season-low with just eight turnovers while forcing 12 by the Crimson, thanks in part to four steals by Wright.

Edosomwan, who averages a double-double on the season, managed eight points (seven in the second half) and eight rebounds, plus dished out a game-high six assists as he battled through early foul trouble. Evan Cummins added 10 points and three blocks to the Crimson effort.

Dartmouth returns to Hanover for the remainder of the month with five home games, beginning with a rematch of its CIT game last March against Canisius. Tip-off against the Golden Griffins is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Harvard plays on the same date and the same time when it hosts Ryerson.

Notes: The last Dartmouth teammates to score 20 points in a game were Tyler Melville '14 and current senior Connor Boehm on March 7, 2014 in a 75-68 win at Brown … the Big Green had just three 20-point games all season entering this contest … Dartmouth is 95-86 all-time against Harvard … Boudreaux is the first Big Green player with four double-doubles in a season since Gabas Maldunas and Jvonte Brooks both had four in 2011-12.