Rai's Second-Half Surge Lifts Men to 76-63 Road Win

Saturday, January 29

New York, N.Y. / Levien Gym

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-12,2-4Ivy League

Columbia

4-14,1-5Ivy League

Dartmouth

Columbia

Aaryn Rai recorded his third 20-point game of the season and fifth of his career.

Photo by: Chris Leung

Rai's Second-Half Surge Lifts Men to 76-63 Road Win

1/29/2022 3:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The fifth-year senior scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime

By: Rick Bender

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Dartmouth fifth-year senior Aaryn Rai scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half — including 14 straight for the Big Green at one point — to lift his team to a 76-63 victory over Columbia at Levien Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. Dartmouth (5-12, 2-4 Ivy) had four players score in double figures to help snap a three-game skid, while the host Lions (4-14, 1-5 Ivy) dropped their fourth straight.

Rai finished the game 8-of-13 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and hit both of his foul shots to reach 20 points for the third time this season and fifth time in his career. Junior Dame Adelekun also came up big in the second half, scoring all 12 of his points after the intermission while grabbing a team-high six rebounds, and graduate Brendan Barry — the team's resident long-distance marksman — tallied 13 point with a season-high five field goals inside the arc and only one 3-pointer as he punished the Columbia defense for playing him tight on the perimeter.

Rai scored the game's opening bucket on the first possession, then was held scoreless for the remainder of the half. The Lions roared back with 10 straight points as Ike Nweke scored twice in the paint and Liam Murphy hit his first of five 3-pointers. But after a Dartmouth timeout, the difference was quickly erased as junior Cam Krystkowiak popped a pair of treys from the left wing bookending an 8-0 Big Green spurt.

Nweke, who finished with 15 points, continued to have his way in the post, however, helping Columbia to a 23-17 advantage before senior Garrison Wade (11 points) matched the snowstorm raging outside with a blizzard of 3-pointers — three to be exact — in the next minute of action to suddenly put Dartmouth on top, 26-25. The Big Green would never trail again as senior Taurus Samuels capped the 12-2 spurt by drilling a 3-pointer.

Geronimo Rubio de la Rosa did get Columbia back within one, 31-30, with a long ball of his own, but Barry and rookie Romeo Myrthil each canned a shot in the final minute to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room. The Lions were more accurate from the floor over the first 20 minutes, shooting 50 percent (11-of-22) compared to 44.8 percent (13-of-29), but Dartmouth hit twice as many trifectas with six and outscored Columbia off turnovers by an 11-2 margin.

Much like Columbia hit a flurry of shots in the opening minutes of the game, the Big Green did so as well at the outset of the second half, dropping five of their first seven shots — the last a two-hand dunk by Adelekun off a missed shot — to boost their advantage to 11. Following a Lion timeout, Dartmouth continued to attack as Adelekun hit his third bucket of the half and Rai his second for a 49-34 lead.

But Columbia wouldn't go quietly, putting together a seven-point run before Barry ended it with a pull-up 18-footer above the free throw line. When Murphy hit another 3-pointer, Rai clapped back with one of his own, and he matched a Lion layup by driving for one himself, maintaining a double-digit lead. Rai eventually scored 14 straight points for the Big Green, including another trey, that left Dartmouth with a 65-53 advantage with 5:30 to play.

Barry tacked on his lone 3-pointer on the very next possession, and the Big Green led by at least a dozen for the remainder of the game as Adelekun scored the final six points for Dartmouth to seal the victory.

"We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but once we got settled, the players really responded," said Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin. "Making our first couple of threes after missing the first four or five really loosened us up. In the second half, Brendan and Aaryn played particularly well, as did Dame. Aaryn showed his complete game today, making him really tough to defend."

By hitting 16-of-30 shots in the second half, the Big Green finished the day just under 50 percent (.492) for the second straight game, a season high against a Division I team. Dartmouth was 9-of-29 (.310) from behind the arc and 9-of-11 (.818) at the foul line, but the difference in the game came in the turnover battle. Columbia coughed the ball up 15 times that led to 19 Big Green points, while the Lions scored just six points off seven Dartmouth miscues.

Murphy led Columbia with 17 points by going 5-of-10 from downtown with a pair of free throws. Joining Murphy and Nweke in double figures was Patrick Harding with 12 on 5-of-6 from the floor. Both Nweke and Harding had a game-high seven rebounds as the Lions edged out the Green on the glass, 31-29.

Dartmouth continues its four-game road swing next weekend with games at Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday. Tipoff against the Bulldogs will be televised on ESPNU at 5 p.m.

Notes: Dartmouth has won the last three games in the series and five of the last six … of Rai's five career 20-point games, two have come against Ivy League teams — Princeton three years ago (21 in 43 minutes) and Columbia today … Rai's first basket of the second half gave him 800 career points … Barry has had at least one 3-pointer in every game this season, but this was only his second with just one … Adelekun has scored in double figures in five of the six conference games after doing so just once in the first 14 games of his career … the Big Green turned the ball over seven times, giving them 13 over the last two games, their fewest in consecutive contests in 36 years.