Dartmouth Wins First Ivy Opener in 12 Years with Emphatic 81-63 Win

Saturday, January 12

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Harvard

Dartmouth

James Foye hit two big 3-pointers in the final minutes

Photo by: Herb Swanson

Dartmouth Wins First Ivy Opener in 12 Years with Emphatic 81-63 Win

1/12/2019 8:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Chris Knight led the way with 20 points in the victory over Harvard in front of a raucous Leede Arena crowd

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — It had been 12 years since Dartmouth had won its Ivy League opener. That drought ended in emphatic fashion as the Big Green (10-7, 1-0 Ivy) blistered the Harvard defense by shooting 68.1 percent in defeating the visiting Crimson (6-7, 0-1 Ivy), 81-63, in front of a raucous Leede Arena crowd on Saturday night.

All eight Dartmouth players that saw action hit more than half of their field goal attempts, led by sophomore Chris Knight with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting with a 3-pointer (his fifth of the season) and 3-for-4 at the foul line. Three juniors joined him in double figures — Ian Sistare (13), Brendan Barry (11) and James Foye (10) with the trio combining to drain seven of the Big Green's 11 triples in just 21 attempts (.524). Sistare led Dartmouth on the boards with six rebounds, Barry added a team-high six assists and Foye's two long balls came in the final four minutes to seal the victory.

"James did not hesitate," said head coach David McLaughlin. "He knew those shots were going in the second they left his hand. He wants the ball in those situations. We are very fortunate to have guys that know how to play hard, that are skilled and our selfless, they really want to win for each other."

The first 11 minutes featured six lead changes as the two teams battled back and forth, but the seventh lead change ignited a 13-point Big Green run as Barry made an acrobatic steal. He found Sistare as he was falling out of bounds, who then drove from halfcourt to the rim for a 20-19 lead. Barry, sophomore Aaryn Rai and freshman Wes Slajchert each followed with 3-pointers, and Foye capped the run that lasted less than four minutes with a layup, making it a 31-19 contest.

Harvard answered back with five quick points, but Barry buried another shot from the perimeter. Sophomore Adrease Jackson followed with another trifecta, and Sistare ended the half with a shot from downtown to send Dartmouth into the locker room with a 44-29 bulge.

Dartmouth did not let up in the second half, extending its lead to as many as 21, before Harvard battled back within 10, 59-49, with 10:30 to play. Slajchert ended a scoring drought of more than five minutes with a fake in the lane to get a wide-open layup, however, and the lead remained in double digits until the final four minutes when the Crimson briefly got within nine at 68-59. But Foye hit the first of two long balls to keep Harvard at bay before the Green ran away in the final two minutes.

Fans who thought the Big Green could not shoot better in the second half after hitting 17-of-26 field goals (.654) were in for a treat, though the 8-for-14 performance (.571) behind the arc was a tough act to follow. Dartmouth went on to shoot 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the floor after the intermission and a modest 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from behind the arc to keep Harvard at arm's length. The 68.1 shooting percentage for the game is the Big Green's best in at least 22 years.

"Some guys had to step up and play out of position a bit when we got into some foul trouble," added McLaughlin. "What really helped us was the play of the young guards [Slajchert and Taurus Samuels], their ability to take care of the ball. Some of what they did won't be seen in the box score, but they gave us a big lift."

Christian Juzang led the Crimson (6-7, 0-1 Ivy) with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting with three 3-pointers while Chris Lewis added 12 points with six rebounds to share the team lead with Justin Bassey. Noah Kirkwood came off the bench to chip in 11 points as well.

Harvard owned a slim 27-26 advantage on the board, with 13 on the offensive end. Yet the Crimson managed to score just six second-chance points as the Dartmouth defense continued to work hard throughout the evening.

Dartmouth will have two weeks off before next playing at Harvard on Jan. 26. The game will be telecast on NESN and streamed live on ESPN+ at 2 p.m.

Notes: Dartmouth improved to 97-90 in the all-time series with Harvard, though the win was just its third in the last 19 meetings dating back to the 2009-10 season … the 18-point margin of victory was the Big Green's largest against Harvard since a 19-point just over 20 years ago … Knight has four 20-point games this season … the Big Green entered the night ninth in the country in 3-point percentage (40.2) and sixth in 3-pointers per game (10.8) … Barry is the nation's leader in 3-point percentage, though his 3-for-6 performance dropped his season accuracy slightly to 51.8 percent … Dartmouth had 21 assists on its 32 field goals, matching its most against a Division I opponent this year.