Knight's Career-High 23 Points Not Enough in 64-59 Defeat

Wednesday, December 5

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Quinnipiac

Dartmouth

Chris Knight posted a career-high 23 points on 10-of-17 from the floor.

Photo by: William Cherry / Presseye

Knight's Career-High 23 Points Not Enough in 64-59 Defeat

12/5/2018 8:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Big Green came up short in a defensive struggle with Quinnipiac

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Sophomore Chris Knight poured in a career-high 23 points, but Cameron Young countered with 21 as visiting Quinnipiac defeated Dartmouth on Wednesday evening at Leede Arena, 64-59, in a back-and-forth affair that featured 18 lead changes. The Bobcats (3-4) snapped a two-game slide, while the Big Green (4-5) lost for the first time on its home court this season.

Knight gave Dartmouth a 49-48 lead on a bucket in the paint, and freshman Taurus Samuels — who finished with a season-high 12 points — added a free throw to put the Green up two, 50-48, with 5:06 remaining in the game. But Kevin Marfo scored on a putback of a missed 3-pointer that started a 9-0 Quinnipiac run that lasted nearly four minutes.

Samuels ended the scoring drought with 1:09 to play, and Dartmouth was able to close the gap to three, 59-56, when junior Brendan Barry laid one in with 27 seconds left. The Bobcats doubled that lead by hitting 3-of-4 at the line, but Samuels wasn't ready to give in quite yet as he drained a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds on the clock. With the Dartmouth defense overplaying for a steal on the inbounds, Quinnipiac went long to Young, who laid in his final two points of the night to seal the game for the Bobcats.

Young went 7-for-15 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and was joined in double figures by Marfo who registered a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Tyrese Williams and Travis Atson added 10 points apiece.

The Quinnipiac defense bottled up the long-distance attack of Dartmouth, which entered the game fifth in the country in 3-point percentage, as the Big Green hit just 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from the perimeter. Overall, Dartmouth shot 36.9 percent from the floor, while the Bobcats were no better at 36.7 percent. The difference in the game came at the foul line with Quinnipiac converting 13-of-19 (.684) compared to just 6-of-12 (.500) for the host Big Green.

Knight finished the night hitting 10-of-17 field goals with a 3-pointer and 2-of-3 at the line to account for his second-straight 20-point game — and first two of his career. Sophomore Adrease Jackson hauled in 10 rebounds and Barry added a career-best eight caroms, but the Bobcats bested the Big Green on the boards, 44-36.

Early in the opening half, Knight provided eight straight points to keep Dartmouth tied with Quinnipiac at 13. A short while later, Knight and Samuels added baskets to give the Green a 19-15 advantage, its largest lead of the evening. But the Bobcats outscored Dartmouth over the final 4:33 by a 12-3 margin to take a five-point lead into the locker room at 27-22.

Williams drained a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half to boost the Quinnipiac lead to eight points, only to have the Big Green go on an 11-1 run that began with a 3-pointer by junior Ian Sistare and ended with a 3-point play by Knight. That would be the first of 12 lead changes in the second stanza, and neither team would lead by more than three points until the final three minutes of the game.

Dartmouth continues its four-game home stand on Saturday when Maine (1-8) comes to Hanover for a contest at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Bob Lipman and Justin McIsaac calling the action, and fans can also listen over the airwaves or online to Brett Franklin and Bill Murphy on KOOL FM (106.7 FM in Hanover, 96.3 FM in Walpole and 106.5 FM in Keene) and at koolnh.com.

Notes: Dartmouth's five 3-pointers were a season low for a team that was second in the nation in 3-pointers per game (13.4) entering the night … all three shooting percentages (field goal, 3-point, free throw) were season lows for the Big Green … Barry was fifth in the country in 3-point accuracy, but attempted only two shots from behind the arc, misfiring on both … Dartmouth has lost the last six meetings with Quinnipiac with its last victory coming in 2006 …the Bobcats are now 11-4 against the Big Green, all since 1999.