Dartmouth Offense Goes Cold in 71-65 Loss at Columbia

Saturday, February 18

New York, N.Y. / Levien Gymnasium

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

9-17,5-7Ivy League

Columbia

7-20,2-10Ivy League

Team	1	2	F
Dartmouth	35	30	65
Columbia	40	31	71

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Dartmouth Offense Goes Cold in 71-65 Loss at Columbia

2/18/2023 10:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

Dame Adelekun leads the way with 19 points in the defeat

By: Justin Lafleur

NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Dartmouth men's basketball team used a 19-6 second-half run to turn a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead, but the Big Green offense struggled from that point forward in a 71-65 loss at Columbia on Saturday evening. Despite scoring just nine points over the game's final 12 minutes, and converting only two field goals in that stretch, Dartmouth was within striking distance until the very end. Senior Dame Adelekun led the offense with 19 points while adding six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.

With the loss, the Big Green fall to 9-17 and 5-7 in Ivy League play. With two games remaining, Dartmouth stands one game behind Cornell and Brown, who are tied for fourth in the standings. With the win, Columbia improves to 7-20 and 2-10 in the league.

"I thought we started the second half on a really strong note," said Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin. "We played with a lot of energy. But then we got stale on the offensive end and it was hard for us to keep our defensive intensity, which I thought we carried through much of the second half. It was hard to sustain when we weren't able to put the ball in the basket, especially in the last [12] minutes of the game."

Junior Dusan Neskovic (12 points) and freshman Brandon Mitchell-Day (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Big Green. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led Columbia with 19 points.

12:00 1st | Dusan Neskovic began the media segment with this baseline move and slam to give the Big Green a lead, but Columbia has rebounded and now leads 16-12. Adelekun with seven points to lead Dartmouth.

📺: @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/cp8NajZiGL #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/vUU9NHf88d
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 19, 2023

Neither side led by more than four for the game's first eight minutes. After scoring 41 points against the Lions just three weeks ago, Adelekun tallied nine of Dartmouth's first 12 points in the rematch.

Columbia's lead twice reached six at 20-14 and 24-18. A 6-0 Lions' surge, including a De La Rosa 4-point play, helped them open a 30-20 lead with 7:26 left in the first half.

Dartmouth responded a few minutes later. Trailing 36-27, an 8-0 run, with points from four different Big Green players, got Dartmouth within 36-35 with 2:42 left in the first half. Columbia answered with the final four points of the half to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room.

Some first-half 📸📸📸

📺: @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/cp8NajZiGL #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/gXb3PtWvQ9
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 19, 2023

With the Big Green behind 42-37, they used a 13-2 run to temporarily take control. After not hitting a 3-pointer up until that point, Dartmouth knocked down three in the span of 1:13 — two from Cornish and one from Neskovic. Not long after, a Neskovic layup off a feed from freshman Jackson Munro, who tied a career high with five assists on the evening, gave the Big Green a 50-44 advantage less than five minutes into the second half.

Dartmouth continued the momentum in the ensuing minutes, as a tough Robert McRae III layup gave the Big Green their largest lead of 56-48 with 12:16 remaining.

12:07 2nd | Robert McRae with a STRONG take to give the Big Green a 56-48 lead. Columbia calls timeout!

📺: @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/cp8NajZiGL #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/jqsjPw0v2t
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 19, 2023

From that point forward, though, Dartmouth's offense struggled. The Big Green went 4:33 without a point and 7:41 without a field goal. But in the mean time, Dartmouth's defense still stood tall, keeping the Big Green in the thick of things. An Adelekun layup with 4:35 to go tied the score at 61.

3:59 2nd | A Columbia 3-pointer gave the Lions the lead back, but a nice answer from the Big Green as Dame Adelekun finished a feed from Ryan Cornish. We are tied at 61 at our final media timeout.

📺: @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/cp8NajZiGL #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/yyVZIABhaa
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 19, 2023

After Columbia opened a four-point advantage, two Mitchell-Day free throws pulled the Big Green within 65-63 with 35 seconds remaining, but that's as close as they would come.

For the game, Dartmouth shot 35.9 percent from the floor (23-of-64), including 14.3 percent from 3-point range (3-of-21). Columbia finished at 41.3 percent (26-of-63) and 19.2 percent from long distance (5-of-26). The Lions held a 43-36 edge in rebounds, with each team grabbing 12 offensive boards. Final turnovers were tied at 11 after Dartmouth had just two in the first half while Columbia only had three.

The Big Green will return to action next Saturday for their final road game of the regular season as they travel to Penn to face the Quakers. Gametime is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

Head coach David McLaughlin following tonight's defeat at Columbia.#TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/pMWTEcOmO2
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 19, 2023