Big Green Rally from 16-Point Deficit for Fourth-Straight Win

Saturday, December 15

Albany, N.Y.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

8-5

Albany

3-8

Dartmouth

Albany

Chris Knight scored all 16 of his points in the paint.

Photo by: Doug Austin

Big Green Rally from 16-Point Deficit for Fourth-Straight Win

12/15/2018 5:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Barry and Knight each provided 16 points in the 61-52 win at Albany

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — After trailing by 16 with six minutes left in the first half, Dartmouth rallied to defeat host Albany at SEFCU Arena on Saturday afternoon, 61-52. Junior Brendan Barry and sophomore Chris Knight each had 16 points to lead the Big Green (8-5) to their fourth-straight victory and second win over the Great Danes (3-8) this season.

Dartmouth overcame some early struggles shooting the ball, but the defense was the key to its largest comeback victory since setting a school record by rallying from a 24-point hole against Brown in March of 2015. Albany was held to a paltry 7-of-31 shooting (.226) in the second stanza, and just 1-of-12 (.083) from long distance after ripping seven 3-pointer in the first 12 minutes of the game.

The Big Green also dominated the boards with a 45-32 advantage as Knight and junior Ian Sistare led all players with nine rebounds while Barry and sophomore Aaryn Rai secured seven.

Barry, who entered the game third in the country 3-point percentage, continued his assault behind the arc by hitting 4-of-7 from downtown and 6-of-11 overall. Knight, on the other hand, did all of his work in the paint, going 8-of-11 from the floor.

Although Knight started the game with a bucket in the paint, Albany took control early with its 3-point prowess while Dartmouth hit just three of its first 15 shots as the Great Danes built up a 23-8 advantage.

Knight ended a scoring drought of nearly five minutes with a layup, and Barry negated two Albany free throws with a trifecta, but the Great Danes increased their lead to 16 at 29-13 on a pair of Cameron Healy buckets — the first two Albany baskets inside the arc of the afternoon — with 6:02 left in the half.

Sistare and junior James Foye got the Big Green started on the long and winding comeback trail with consecutive treys, and a Barry fadeaway that just beat the shot clock along with a dunk by junior Will Emery trimmed the deficit down into single digits by halftime, 34-25.

"Albany did a good job pressuring us and getting us out of our rhythm in the first half," Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin said. "But our guys did an excellent job in cutting the deficit to single digits before halftime, and in the locker room there was no panic. In the second half, we defended them very well and we handled the pressure. We were able to make plays down the stretch and were aided by a couple missed threes by them, but our rebounding in the second half was perhaps the biggest factor in our win."

Other than Albany's early 3-point clinic, both teams struggled putting the ball in the basket over the first 20 minutes with Dartmouth shooting 37.0 percent (10-of-27) and the Great Danes just 37.9 percent (11-of-29).

The Big Green were able to close the gap to two in the first four minutes of the second half, 36-34, with Foye supplying five of his 10 points on the day during the 9-2 spurt. But Knight and sophomore starting forward Adrease Jackson both picked up their third foul during that span, sending both to the bench.

The reserves of Rai and junior Will Emery continued the solid defense as Albany managed just four points over the first six minutes of the period. After Kendall Lauderdale dropped in a layup for a 40-35 Albany lead with 13:21 to play, the Great Danes scored just five points over the next 12 minutes.

Rai contributed three points the hard way before Knight returned to lay in a pair of shots for a 42-40 Dartmouth lead, its first since Knight's game-opening bucket.

Ahmad Clark, who led the Great Danes with 19 points, briefly knotted the score by driving to the rim, but Rai converted two foul shots and Barry ripped a 3-pointer boosting the lead to five. Clark scored again with 5:31 remaining to make it a 48-45 game, only to have the Big Green score the next nine points, highlighted by Barry's final triple that put Dartmouth up 10, 55-45, with 2:35 to play. The rest was academic as the Green took the lead in the all-time series with the Great Danes, 6-5.

Dartmouth hit 12-of-26 (.465) field goals after the intermission to finish the day at 41.5 percent overall (22-of-53). Albany only cracked 30 percent when Clark laid in an uncontested shot with five seconds left, hitting 18-of-60 (.300) from the floor.

The Big Green will be back on the hardwood at Bryant on Friday at 11 a.m. in search of their fifth-straight victory. The last Dartmouth team to win five in a row was the 2014-15 squad that won its final five games of the regular season to qualify for its first postseason appearance (CIT) in 56 years.

Notes: With eight victories, Dartmouth has exceeded its win total from each of the past two seasons (7) … the Big Green had not won a game when trailing at the half since Feb. 10 in a 72-56 triumph over Princeton … the nine rebounds for Sistare are a career high.