Sixteen-Point Run in First Half Carries Big Green to 82-73 Victory

Monday, December 10

Hanover, N.H.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Sacred Heart

Dartmouth

Adrease Jackson posted 20 points on Monday afternoon.

Photo by: Herb Swanson

Sixteen-Point Run in First Half Carries Big Green to 82-73 Victory

12/10/2018 1:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Adrease Jackson put up 20 points in front of 1,718 fans on Monday afternoon

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Sophomore Adrease Jackson led Dartmouth with 20 points as the Big Green rode the wave of a 16-point first-half run to defeat Sacred Heart, 82-73, on Monday afternoon in front of 1,718 mostly middle schoolers at Leede Arena on School Day. Dartmouth shot 52.4 percent from the floor to improve to 6-5 on the season while the Pioneers dropped to 4-6 in their first game in eight days.

Jackson hit all eight of his shots inside the arc and added a 3-pointer and a free throw for his second 20-point game of the season and third of his career as the 6-8 forward finished the game 9-of-15 from the floor with seven rebounds. He was one of four Big Green players to score in double figures with junior Brendan Barry canning 4-of-9 triples in posting 17 points with juniors James Foye and Ian Sistare both adding 10 apiece.

Sophomore forward Chris Knight, who was announced as the Ivy League Player of the Week late in the game, scored just seven points ending a six-game streak with at least 15, but hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds for the second straight game, matched another personal best with four blocks and dished out a career-high nine assists, the most by a Dartmouth player this year.

The first 12 minutes were a nip-and-tuck affair thanks to some early long-range shooting for the Big Green, which got five 3-pointers in that span, two by Foye, while neither side could build a lead larger than five points. After Jare'l Spellman — who led the Pioneers with 19 points — laid in a shot with 7:33 on the clock to close the gap to one at 26-25, the Big Green defense clamped down and held the visitors scoreless for almost the remainder of the half.

Meanwhile, the Big Green offense hit its stride, hitting their next five shots, all in the paint, to open up an 11-point advantage. Jackson then added three more baskets in the lane to extend the run to 16 points before Spellman ended the Pioneer drought on a putback with five seconds showing on the clock, making it a 15-point game at the half, 42-27.

Dartmouth shot a robust 60 percent (18-of-30) in the opening stanza as Jackson led all players with 13 points. Sacred Heart, on the other hand, misfired on all nine of its 3-point attempts while hitting just 38.2 percent (13-of-34) overall.

In the second half, the Big Green kept the Pioneers lost in the wilderness for the first 15 minutes by maintaining a double-digit lead that was as many as 16 points. But Sean Hoehn gave Sacred Heart hope when he drilled a 3-pointer with 5:07 remaining to cap a seven-point spurt and make it a 65-58 contest.

Dartmouth got a layup from Knight and a thunderous dunk from Jackson on its next two possessions, only to have Spellman pop 3-pointers after both buckets, cutting the lead down to five at 69-64 with four minutes on the clock. Barry answered with a corner three for the Big Green, and Dartmouth answered every Pioneer score the rest of the way to keep them at bay.

In addition to hitting 52.4 percent (33-of-63) of their field goals, the Big Green (ranked in the top 10 nationally in 3-pointers per game) continued its long-distance barrage with 11 trifectas in 29 attempts (37.9 percent) as six different players produced at least one led by Barry's quartet.

Dartmouth will conclude its four-game home stand with its first game against Boston University (6-4) in 16 years when the two meet at Leede Arena on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The contest will be televised regionally by NESN and simulcast on ESPN+ with Bob Lipman and Eric Berry calling the action. Fans can also listen to the game locally on KOOL FM (106.7 FM in Hanover, 96.3 FM in Walpole and 106.5 FM in Keene) or online at koolnh.com with Brett Franklin and Bill Murphy on the call.

Notes: The Big Green are above .500 this late in the season for the first time in five years, having started the 2013-14 campaign at 7-4 … Dartmouth is 6-0 when shooting at least 49 percent from the floor this year … Jackson had 25 points at Loyola Maryland earlier this year and also had 24 in a win at Columbia during his rookie season last year … his 20 points ended a scoring slump in which he had tallied just 24 points in his previous four games combined … with his four 3-pointers today, Barry moved into 10th place on Dartmouth's career list with 114 triples in less than two-and-a-half years.