Big Green Cruise to 108-59 Win Over Thomas

Tuesday, November 19

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-1

108

Thomas College

2-1

Thomas (ME)

Dartmouth

108

Taurus Samuels led eight players in double figures with 14 points.

Photo by: Brian Foley

11/19/2019 8:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Eight players scored in double figures led by Taurus Samuels with 14

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth started the game on a 13-0 run and never looked back as the Big Green cruised to a 108-59 victory over Division III Thomas College on Tuesday night at Leede Arena. Sophomore Taurus Samuels led a school-record eight players in double figures for Dartmouth (5-1), which is off to its best start in 23 years.

The Big Green shot 63.1 percent (41-of-65) from the floor on the night and 52.0 percent (13-of-25) from 3-point range with Samuels canning 4-of-5 long balls. Thirteen of the 14 Dartmouth players to see time on the court had at least one field goal, and freshmen Demi Adelekun and Jackson Blaufeld both scored the first 10 points of their collegiate careers in the game.

Lovegeurson Fleurine had 15 points to lead the visiting Terriers, who began their season this past weekend with a pair of wins in their home tournament. But the Dartmouth defense held Thomas to 31.2 percent shooting (24-of-77) on the night and 30 percent (9-of-30) from distance.

Dartmouth raced out to an 13-0 lead thanks to a tip-in by Chris Knight (10 points) and 3-pointers from James Foye and Aaryn Rai (12), leading to a Thomas timeout after the first 11 points. Fleurine provided the first two buckets for the Terriers, and Evan Arsenault popped a pair of treys as the visitors clawed back within six at 16-10 after six and a half minutes of action.

Following a six-point Big Green spurt, the difference remained between nine and 14 points until Samuels drilled the second of his two triples in the half, putting Dartmouth up, 36-19. A Rai layup off a Wes Slajchert feed in the post boosted the Big Green lead to 21 at 42-21. After Demetris Webster scored on a putback for Thomas, Dartmouth tallied the final nine points of the stanza on a trifecta by Garrison Wade (career-high 13 points), layup by Knight and four free throws to take a 51-23 advantage into the locker room.

The Big Green hit 18-of-29 (.621) field goals in the opening half, 5-of-11 (.455) from long range, while holding the Terriers to just 10-of-37 (.270) overall and 3-of-14 (.214) outside the arc. Yet Dartmouth found a way to improve its accuracy in the second stanza.

The first three Dartmouth baskets after the intermission were 3-pointers courtesy of Ian Sistare, Samuels and Slajchert (10 points) as the Green extended their lead to 62-25. By the time four minutes had elapsed, four of the Dartmouth starters were out of the game for the rest of the night as head coach David McLaughlin gave his reserves extensive minutes.

The lead topped 40 points for the first time on Adelekun's first career basket, making it a 69-28 contest. Blaufeld had the honors of boosting the advantage to 50 at 90-40 with a layup and 7:21 to play. Freshman Jayden Reaves got into the scoring act with a breakaway layup to increase the difference to 55 (98-43), and the largest lead was 56, 106-50, on another Adelekun layup in the final two minutes before the Big Green settled for the 49-point victory.

Dartmouth gets 10 days off for fall exams before starting a five-game road trip. First up will be a Bowling Green (3-1) team that won 22 games last year and has beaten the only team that has defeated the Big Green this year, Jacksonville. The game will tip at 4 p.m. on Nov. 30 and will be televised in the Bowling Green area on WBGU.

Notes: This is the third time in the last two years that Dartmouth has hit the century mark, with all three games coming against Division III opponents … the 108 points are the fourth-most in Big Green history, 13 shy of the school record set in January of 2016 against Pine Manor … the Big Green had 25 assists on their 41 field goals and turned the ball over just three times, tying for the fewest in the last 45 seasons.