Big Green Come Away from Maine with Convincing 77-44 Win

Wednesday, December 11

Bangor, Maine / Cross Insurance Center

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

6-4

Maine

3-7

Dartmouth

Maine

James Foye men's basketball action versus Thomas College

James Foye led the way with 18 points

Photo by: Brian Foley

Big Green Come Away from Maine with Convincing 77-44 Win

12/11/2019 8:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Dartmouth started the game on an 11-0 run and never looked back.

By: Rick Bender

BANGOR, Maine — Senior James Foye led four players in double figures with 18 points as Dartmouth posted a convincing 77-44 victory on the road at Maine on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Center. The Big Green (6-4) shot 54.7 percent from the floor while holding the Black Bears (3-7) to just 34.7 percent to post their largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent in nearly 23 years.

Foye finished the game 6-of-10 from the floor, 4-of-6 from the perimeter and added a pair of free throws to produce his 18 points. He was joined in double figures by sophomore Wes Slajchert with a career-high 13, junior Chris Knight with a dozen and junior Aaryn Rai with 10 more to go with a team-high five rebounds.

Dartmouth quickly took command of the game by scoring the game's first 11 points as Knight spun in the post for a lefty layup, Foye drained two 3-pointers and sophomore Taurus Samuels hit another. Maine responded with seven points of its own, only to have Knight and Rai score in the post for a 15-7 lead.

When Foye drove hard to the rim and dropped in a high-arcing layup high off the glass for a 24-13 lead with 8:43 to play, the Big Green would enjoy a double-digit advantage the rest of the night. The layup ignited a 9-0 run with another Foye trifecta sandwiched between two Samuels layups, and suddenly the lead was 18 — the largest for Dartmouth in the opening stanza — at 31-13.

Maine briefly closed the gap to 10 at 33-23 on a Nedeljko Prijovic layup, but Foye ended the half by splashing his four 3-pointer of the game just before the buzzer sounded for a 40-26 lead at the intermission. The Big Green went 16-of-28 (.571) from the floor in the half and 7-of-14 (.500) from long range while holding Maine to 10-of-29 (.345) overall and 4-of-13 (.308) from distance.

Although Dartmouth misfired on its first five 3-point attempts in the second half, the Black Bears could not make any headway on its deficit. Knight supplied an early highlight by corralling a long rebound, driving to the rim and dunking over a Maine defender, while Vilgot Larsson popped a trey for Maine to make it a 13-point game at 46-33.

The Green rattled off the next eight points on layups by four different players, the last by senior Ian Carter to boost the difference over 20 points for the first time, 54-33. Carter, who finished with a season-high nine points, scored the next five for Dartmouth as well. Late in the game, Slajchert provided seven consecutive points on a 3-pointer and four free throws, upping the lead to 30 at 74-44 with just over a minute to play. The final points came courtesy of freshmen Demi Adelekun (layup) and Jackson Blaufeld (foul shot) as the Big Green finished the night on a 10-point run.

"You can't be defined only one way," head coach David McLaughlin said after the game. "You can't be defined just by your post game, can't be defined just by the drive, it has to start in transition and ends all the way to the final play. It's great when you play offense and you know where the other four guys are going to be on the floor. That's what gives you confidence. We share the juices and value the ball, and when we play inside out like we did tonight, we are going to be successful."

Dartmouth had the edge on the glass as well, 32-29, despite Maine's height advantage, and turned the ball over just six times while forcing 14 Black Bear miscues.

Andrew Fleming was the lone Maine player in double figures with 15 points, but on 6-of-18 from the floor with a pair of threes. Prijovic hauled in a game-high nine rebounds.

Dartmouth will finish its five-game road trip on Saturday afternoon at Boston University (3-7). The game, scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip, will be streamed live for free on the Patriot League Network.

Notes: The only other victory by 33 or more points in the NCAA divisional era (since 1973) against a Division I team came on Feb. 14, 1997, in an 82-47 win (35) at Columbia on Feb. 14, 1997 … the Big Green have won seven of the last eight meetings with Maine and are now 15-11 all-time in the series.