Game Gets Away Late in Loss at Penn

Saturday, January 15

Philadelphia, Pa. / The Palestra

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-10,1-2Ivy League

Penn

6-11,3-1Ivy League

Dartmouth

Penn

Brendan Barry's game-high 16 points left him three points shy of 1,000 in a Dartmouth uniform.

Photo by: Doug Austin

1/15/2022 4:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (HTML)Box Score ESPN+ Highlights Postgame with Coach McLaughlin

Brendan Barry had 16 points and Dame Adelekun 10 rebounds in the 78-68 defeat

By: Rick Bender

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — What was a nip-and-tuck game for 33 minutes got away from Dartmouth down the stretch as the men's basketball team suffered a 78-68 defeat by Penn (6-11, 3-1 Ivy) at the Palestra on Saturday afternoon. Graduate Brendan Barry led the Big Green (4-10, 1-2 Ivy) with 16 points and junior Dame Adelekun grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, but the Quakers shot 60 percent from the floor after halftime to send Dartmouth back to Hanover with a loss.

The first half went well for the Green with Adelekun scoring in the paint on the game's first shot. Junior Cam Krystkowiak knotted the score at nine apiece with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Barry broke the deadlock on the next possession with a long ball of his own, and Dartmouth remained in front for the rest of the stanza.

Krystkowiak added a pair of putbacks, and the Big Green pushed their lead to as many as 10 at 28-18 thanks to a trey by senior Wes Slajchert and a driving layup by freshman Romeo Myrthil.

Penn closed that gap down to two as Max Martz, who was one of two Quakers with 13 points, heated up from the perimeter with back-to-back trifectas. Yet Dartmouth managed to hang on to a four-point advantage at the break, 38-34, finishing the half shooting 53.8 percent (14-of-26) overall and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from the perimeter.

The Quakers were able to keep the score close by forcing nine turnovers, hitting all six of their free throws and drilling four 3-pointers of their own.

The start of the second half went Penn's way with three straight baskets to take its first lead since the first five minutes. Dartmouth responded with a couple buckets in the paint by Barry and fifth-year senior Aaryn Rai. Neither side could push ahead by more than three points for a 10-minute stretch until Jordan Dingle converted a three-point play and Martz rained down his third and final triple (in as many attempts) for a 58-54 Quaker edge. Rai then sank two foul shots before sophomore Izaiah Robinson swished a 3-pointer that gave Dartmouth a 59-58 lead. It also was the final lead of the afternoon for the Big Green.

Penn reserve Lucas Monroe had an answer to Robinson's trey, dropping a short pull-up jumper while getting fouled and converting the free throw for the ninth and final lead change of a game that also featured 11 ties. That started a 9-1 Penn run over the next 100 seconds, boosting the Quakers back in front, 67-60. A free throw by Dartmouth senior Garrison Wade made it a six-point game, but the Big Green would not get closer the rest of the way as Penn connected on 7-of-11 foul shots in the final three and a half minutes.

Robinson's triple was the lone long ball for Dartmouth in the second half as the team hit just 1-of-9 from downtown and 9-of-22 (.409) overall in the stanza to finish at 47.9 percent for the game. The Big Green had a slight 29-26 advantage on the glass thanks to Adelekun's second-straight double-digit output, but a season-high 17 turnovers led to 16 Quaker points.

"Even with shooting the ball very well in the first half and having a lead, we still had nine turnovers in the half," noted head coach David McLaughlin. "That four-point lead should have been a 10- or 12-point lead. To win games in an incredibly competitive conference, you have to value the basketball. For us, that is a sign of three things we need to get better at: being more detail-oriented, making great decisions with the ball and on the defensive end, and being really disciplined. We lacked all of those on multiple possessions today, and that is not going to allow you to win a league game on the road."

Barry was 5-of-11 from the floor with two treys and a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe for his 16 points. Rai was the only other Dartmouth player in double figures with 11 while Krystkowiak was an efficient 4-of-4 shooting for nine points in 13 minutes.

Jelani Williams joined Martz with 13 points to lead Penn while three others hit double figures, including 11 from Clark Slajchert, who played against his brother in college for the first time. George Smith was a catalyst for the Quakers, dishing out five assists to go with his 12 points, plus collected two of his team's 10 steals.

Dartmouth returns to Hanover to host Harvard (9-5, 1-1 Ivy) on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on NESN and streamed live on ESPN+ with Bob Lipman and Dave Faucher calling the action, while a free audio stream will be available as well through DartmouthSports.com featuring the talents of Brett Franklin and Bill Murphy. The general public will not be allowed to attend due to COVID-19 safety and protocols.

Notes: Barry will need just three points against the Crimson on Monday to reach 1,000 in a Dartmouth uniform … senior point guard Taurus Samuels returned to action after missing the last two games, scoring five points, all at the free throw line … Adelekun has 22 rebounds in his last two games, nearly as many as he had in his career prior to the two contests (24).