Three-Point Barrage Comes Up Just Short at Davidson, 79-76

Friday, November 9

Davidson, N.C.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-1

Davidson

2-0

Dartmouth

Davidson

Ian Sistare hit a career-high five 3-pointers.

Photo by: Jeff Sochko/Tim Cowie Photography

Three-Point Barrage Comes Up Just Short at Davidson, 79-76

11/9/2018 8:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)Photos by J Sochko

Big Green hit 15-of-33 3-pointers, but the host Wildcats staved off the upset in the final five seconds

By: Rick Bender

DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Dartmouth men's basketball team led by as many as 12 points in the second half at Davidson and still had a three-point advantage into the final minute, but the host Wildcats (2-0) staved off the upset to take a 79-76 victory over the Big Green (1-1).

Dartmouth hit 15-of-33 3-pointers while holding Davidson to just 4-of-18 outside the arc. But a Carter Collins triple from the corner in front of the Wildcats' bench tied the game with 53.7 seconds left, and Kellan Grady hit three free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to give Davidson its first lead since the score was 26-24 with under six minutes left in the first half.

After calling a timeout at halfcourt with 2.7 seconds to go, Dartmouth drew up a play to free junior Brendan Barry, who hit 8-of-10 triples in the season opener on Tuesday and was perfect in three attempts on the night. The cross-court pass to sophomore Chris Knight was immediately fed to Barry, who looked to be open on the far wing, but Collins closed fast enough to get a piece of the ball and send it off course, preserving the win for the 'Cats.

After the game, Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin had a simple question for his team: "How much better are we going to be in a month? They all, without any doubt in their minds, know that we're not even close to where we're going to be in a month. They understand that if they maintain their attitude and energy every single day, this team has a lot of room for growth."

Dartmouth had five players score in double figures led by sophomore Adrease Jackson with 16 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds, while junior Ian Sistare canned 5-of-6 from long range to provide 15 points. Knight (13), senior Guilien Smith (12) and junior James Foye (11) joined them in double figures, while Barry's nine points from the perimeter completed all of the Big Green scoring on the night.

Davidson was led by its two star guards, Jon Axel Gudmundsson and Grady, who both topped 20 points to combine for 47 while hitting 18-of-31 field goals and 9-of-12 at the line.

For the first 14 minutes, Davidson only trailed after Jackson opened the game with a bucket down low. But Dartmouth would not let the Wildcats pull away, staying within five points throughout that stretch as Sistare had his shooting stroke working early with 12 consecutive points on four trifectas for the Green over nearly eight minutes.

Down by four at 26-22 with 6:44 left in the opening stanza, Dartmouth went on a 13-2 run during which it took the lead on a Barry 3-pointer. Jackson capped the run with a pair of treys on back-to-back possessions to quickly turn a one-point advantage to seven with 4:16 on the clock, where it remained when the buzzer sounded at 40-33.

At the intermission, the difference on the board came thanks to the Big Green's 8-of-17 performance behind the arc while Davidson mustered just one triple in seven tries. Both teams had 15 rebounds and six fouls while Davidson was 15-of-30 overall from the floor and the Wildcats 14-of-29. Both scoring leaders did not miss a shot in the first 20 minutes with Sistare 4-of-4 from distance and Davidson's Luka Brajkovic 5-of-5 in the post and 2-of-2 at the foul line.

The 3-pointers kept coming in the second half, helping Dartmouth keep the 'Cats more than one possession down. Barry and Smith popped treys in the first four minutes before Foye and Sistare each added another to balloon the Big Green lead to a dozen at 56-44 with 14:07 to play.

Davidson enjoyed an 11-3 burst with the lone Dartmouth points coming on three Knight free throws, closing the gap to four at 59-55 with still 11:13 to play. Against the Green went to the long ball courtesy of Foye and Barry to get back up eight, 67-59.

Foye's third bomb of the night ended up being the final Dartmouth field goal with 5:04 still to go, then Smith drained two foul shots after the final media timeout to keep the lead at eight, 76-71. But the Big Green went 0-for-6 from the floor the rest of the way, and the Wildcats did just enough to send Dartmouth away with thoughts of what could have been.

Dartmouth finishes its weekend trip to the mid-Atlantic region on Sunday at Loyola (Md.), which lost its season opener on Tuesday at St. John's, 76-55. The game will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network at 5 p.m.

Notes: Dartmouth has hit 37 3-pointers in its first two games at a 47.4 percent clip (78 attempts) … Barry is 11-of-14 (.786) from the perimeter in those two contests, while Foye and Sistare are both 7-of-11 (.636) … Sistare and Grady were prep teammates at Northfield Mount Hermon in New Hampshire.