Adelekun, Defense Lead to 71-59 Win Over Cornell

Friday, February 18

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

6-15,3-7Ivy League

Cornell

13-9,5-6Ivy League

Cornell

Dartmouth

Dame Adelekun lets out a scream toward a jubilant student section.

Photo by: Ed Moran

Adelekun, Defense Lead to 71-59 Win Over Cornell

2/18/2022 9:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Dame Adelekun had 19 points and the men's basketball team held the Big Red to a season-low 59 points

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth defense held the Ivy League's highest-scoring team to a season-low 59 points while junior Dame Adelekun scored a career-high 19 to lead the Big Green (6-15, 3-7 Ivy) to a 71-59 victory over Cornell (13-9, 5-6 Ivy) on Friday night at Leede Arena.

Adelekun was perfect from the floor, hitting all seven of his shots, and he snared eight rebounds while fifth-year senior Aaryn Rai recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards to help Dartmouth snap a three-game skid and split the season series with the Big Red. Senior Taurus Samuels also had a dozen points, including two critical 3-pointers late in the game.

The Big Green opened up a 10-point lead with just under 13 minutes to play, 42-32, on a give-and-go layup by sophomore Izaiah Robinson courtesy of freshman Nikola Dimitrijevic. But Cornell scored 10 of the next 12 points, including a 3-pointer by Sean Hanson that rattled in and out, hit the backboard and found its way through the iron.

The difference remained between two and five points until the Big Red scored six straight points, the last two coming on a Hansen layup, to take a 55-53 lead with 3:40 to play, its first since the first three minutes of the second half.

That's when Samuels ignited the home crowd by draining a 3-pointer from the corner in front of the Dartmouth bench just before the shot clock expired, putting the Big Green back on top. After Hanson missed a shot, Samuels struck again from almost the exact same spot, giving Dartmouth a sudden four-point advantage, 59-55, with 2:30 remaining.

Both teams were in the double bonus, and Adelekun hit 3-of-4 at the line while Rai converted a pair of foul shots before Adelekun got free under the basket and brought the raucous crowd to their feet with a two-hand jam for a 10-point lead, 66-56, with 49 seconds left. With Cornell hitting just one of its last nine field goal attempts after Hansen's go-ahead basket, the Big Green were never threatened in the final minute as they finished off the victory.

The first half was a defensive battle on both sides, though Dartmouth jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Brendan Barry and layups by senior Garrison Wade and Adelekun. The Big Red answered right back, nearly doubling that run with 13 straight points. Cornell would lead by as many as seven points when Sarju Patel knocked down a trifecta at 20-13, but the Dartmouth defense held the visitors without a field goal (0-for-5 with five turnovers) and only four free throws for the last 9:33 of the half.

The only problem was that the Big Red were close to matching that defensive effort as the Green went 2-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-8 at the charity stripe, whittling the deficit down to two at the half, 24-22. Dartmouth shot just 32.0 percent (8-of-25) for the half and that Barry triple to start the game was their lone long ball in 10 tries. Cornell, meanwhile, wound up shooting 36.8 percent (7-of-19) with three treys in nine tries.

It was Adelekun who provided the points to give Dartmouth back the lead at 28-27 with a layup early in the second stanza. The physical game started to show up in the foul column as the Big Green reached the bonus by the time five minutes had elapsed, which helped them build their lead to 10 before Cornell rallied.

"We as a coaching staff challenged our team to respond after a loss like last week [45-point loss at Princeton], and I think the players really responded," head coach David McLaughlin said. "You have to slow Cornell down in transition, and I thought we did a pretty good job doing that. Then you have to be able to guard their actions because they run their stuff really well, and we were able to do that as well."

Dartmouth enjoyed one of its best shooting halves of the season after the intermission, sinking 15-of-24 (.625) field goals, to finish the night at 46.9 percent (23-of-49). And the Big Green team that came into the game among the top 25 squads in the country in free throw accuracy also made and attempted its most foul shots (21-of-30) of the season. Dartmouth also enjoyed a hefty advantage on the glass with a 37-24 margin.

Cornell was led by Nazir Williams with 14 points off the bench with Dean Noll (11 points) and Hansen (10) joining him in double figures. As a team, the Big Red shot 39.5 percent (17-of-43) from the floor and 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from distance while turning the ball over 18 times.

The Big Green (6-15, 3-7 Ivy) will try to complete a season sweep of Columbia (4-19, 1-10 Ivy) on Saturday night. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. with Brett Franklin and Dave Faucher calling the action, and a free audio stream will also be available through DartmouthSports.com featuring Dave Collins on the call.

Notes: McLaughlin presented Barry with a basketball before the game commemorating his 1,000th point in a Big Green uniform. He reached the milestone last month, but Dartmouth had not played at home in 27 days … the double-double for Rai was the first for him this season and sixth of his career.