Stifling Second Half Sends Dartmouth to 55-46 Victory

Friday, November 15

Lowell, Mass.

4:30 PM

Dartmouth College

3-0

Merrimack

1-2

Merrimack

Dartmouth

Chris Knight men's basketball action versus Florida Gulf Coast

Taurus Samuels (1) and Chris Knight (23) defending.

Photo by: Doug Austin

Stifling Second Half Sends Dartmouth to 55-46 Victory

11/15/2019 6:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Big Green started the second half on a 19-3 run

By: Rick Bender

LOWELL, Mass. — After trailing for the entire first half, Dartmouth started the second stanza on a 19-3 run that lasted nearly 11 minutes en route to a 55-46 victory over Merrimack in the first game of the River Hawk Invitational hosted by UMass Lowell at the Costello Athletic Center on Friday afternoon. Chris Knight led all players with 13 points and Aaryn Rai added 10 for the Big Green (3-0), which is off to their best start to a season in 23 years.

Merrimack (1-2) got 10 points from Juvaris Hayes but the Warriors shot just 32.1 percent (17-of-53) for the game and 25 percent (6-of-24) in the second half.

Dartmouth failed to connect on any of its seven 3-point attempts in the first half and trailed by six at the break, 29-23, but Ian Sistare made that a distant memory by draining long balls on each of the first two possessions after the intermission to knot the score at 29. Devin Jensen answered with a Warrior 3-pointer, but that would turn out to be the only points for Merrimack for more than the next nine minutes.

After Rai dropped in a layup, James Foye rained down another triple for the Big Green's first lead of the afternoon at 34-32. But Dartmouth wasn't finished as Rai and Wes Slajchert scored in the paint, and three minutes later Knight and Ian Carter provided buckets in the lane, pushing the difference into double digits at 42-32.

The Warriors' scoring drought came to an end with nine minutes left in the game when Ziggy Reid popped a 3-pointer. The Big Green response came in the form of trifectas from Slajchert and Taurus Samuels, giving Dartmouth its largest lead of the contest, 48-35, with 7:20 to play.

Merrimack scored the next six points but never could get any closer than seven down the stretch.

The game began very differently as Dartmouth was caught on its heels in the first few minutes, turning the ball over on four of its first five possessions. Merrimack took advantage of the miscues to take an early 9-0 lead with Mikey Watkins providing a pair of baskets and Jaleel Lord drilling one from behind the arc.

Knight provided the first Big Green points on a 3-point play down low, and Rai followed with a bucket in the post as well, helping to right the Dartmouth ship. But the Warriors built their lead up to as many as 12 thanks to four 3-pointers in the first 11 minutes of play, the last courtesy of Lord. When Hayes laid in a shot with 6:46 left in the half, Merrimack enjoyed a 25-13 advantage as the Big Green were in the midst of a six-minute span without a field goal.

Then it was Dartmouth's turn to clamp down on defense, holding the Warriors without a point for nearly five-and-a-half minutes during an 8-0 run, fueled by a pair of Knight baskets. Rai converted two more foul shots with just under two minutes on the clock, whittling the deficit to two, but Hayes canned two free throws and Reid hit a tough shot with Knight's hand in his face just before the buzzer, leaving Merrimack with a 29-23 lead at the intermission. The second half, however, belonged to the Big Green.

Both teams struggled from the floor for the first 20 minutes with Merrimack 11-of-29 (.379) and Dartmouth 7-of-22 (.318). But while the Warriors' shooting woes continued in the second half, the Big Green found their range, drilling 50 percent overall (13-of-26) and from downtown (6-of-12). Dartmouth concluded the game shooting 41.7 percent (20-of-48) and 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from 3-point range.

The Big Green will play their second game of the invitational tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. against Jacksonville (1-2), which is taking on host UMass Lowell this evening.

Notes: Merrimack is coached by Joe Gallo, who served as an assistant at Dartmouth for two seasons (2010-12) … the Big Green have scored 55 points in each of ther last two victories after not winning a game with that few points since the regular-season finale in 2014-15 against Yale … the Dartmouth defense entered the game among the top 40 in field goal percentage defense, and lowered that statistic to 33.9 percent … both Knight and Rai have scored in double figures in each of the first three games … tomorrow the Big Green will be aiming to win their first four games for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign when they started the season with six straight victories … to do so, they will have to avenge their only meeting with Jacksonville, a 69-59 defeat in 1967.