Big Green Can’t Maintain Strong Start in 72-56 Defeat vs. Columbia

Saturday, February 3

Hanover, N.H.

6:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-14,1-5Ivy League

Columbia

11-8,2-4Ivy League

Columbia

Dartmouth

Photo by: Ryan Yong

Big Green Can’t Maintain Strong Start in 72-56 Defeat vs. Columbia

2/3/2024 10:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Dartmouth led by as much as eight in the early going before the Linos rebounded

By: Justin Lafleur

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth men's basketball team led for the game's first 11 minutes on Saturday, but visiting Columbia staged a big 27-7 run to turn a seven-point Big Green lead into a 13-point Lions' advantage, and Dartmouth could never recover in a 72-56 loss on Saturday evening inside Leede Arena. The Big Green got balanced scoring, with 12 of the 13 who saw action scoring a point, but no one scored more than 10 points in the defeat.

Dartmouth falls to 5-14 on the season and 1-5 in the Ivy League while Columbia improves to 11-8 and 2-4.

"We talked about starting the game a certain way," said Big Green head coach David McLaughlin. "We had six assists on our first eight baskets and the ball was touching the paint. So we go up 18-10, they go on a 22-6 run after that and we missed five or six good looks during that time. They made four or five threes during that stretch and they're one of the best 3-point shooting teams by the numbers in our league.

"Once that happened, it really gave them confidence and took confidence away from us," McLaughlin continued. "We also got into some foul trouble tonight, which hurt some of our lineups, and that hurt our execution overall and our ability to get consistent stops."

Senior Dusan Neskovic scored 10 points, all in the first half, to lead the Big Green offense, but shot just 3-of-10 from the floor. Junior Connor Christensen provided an offensive spark off the bench, posting nine points and five rebounds. Junior Romeo Myrthil added eight points, while classmate Nikola Dimitrijevic scored seven. Sophomore Jackson Munro assisted on each of the Big Green's first three field goals, all in the game's first 3:12, finishing with a career-high six helpers. He has now posted 16 assists over his last three games since returning from injury.

Columbia's Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa and Jaden Cooper each scored a game-high 12 points, with Rubio De La Rosa also adding 12 rebounds.

"I think we allowed them to get physical with us and that made us tentative," said Myrthil. "We had 12 open layups that we missed because we were tentative. We've got to stay tough throughout the game."

Dartmouth jumped out to an early lead, as a Myrthil layup opened the scoring, and another Myrthil layup gave the Big Green an 11-3 lead with 15:29 on the first-half clock. Munro picked up his fourth assist before the game was five minutes old. Neskovic scored five of Dartmouth's first 11 points.

A few minutes later, a Ben Brown 3-pointer gave the Big Green an 18-10 lead, but the Lions had an answer. Just over a minute later, Cooper knocked down a 3-pointer, which began a stretch that saw Columbia outscore Dartmouth, 32-11. The Lions' lead reached as much as 13 in the final minutes, with Columbia holding a 45-33 halftime advantage.

The Big Green chipped away early in the second, holding the Lions without a field goal for the first 6:01, and to just one point in that stretch. But offensively, Dartmouth was able to score just five points as a Dimitrijevic jumper pulled the Big Green within 46-38 with 14:16 on the clock.

However, Cooper answered with a 3-pointer just 17 seconds later and the Lions would lead by double figures the rest of the way. The margin gradually increased, reaching 20 at 65-45 with 5:41 remaining. Trailing by as much as 23, the Big Green scored the game's final seven points over the final three minutes, highlighted by a highlight-reel dunk from first-year Niko Abusara. An Izaiah Robinson layup with 22 seconds remaining pulled the Big Green to within 72-56 at the final horn.

"Abusara drives, dunks it home on top of the 6-foot-11 forward."

Niko Abusara finished this poster dunk in the final minutes of today's contest vs. Columbia. @BrandonBojarsk1 with the first call on Dartmouth radio followed by @brett_radio on @ESPNPlus #SCTop10 | @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/xSrhv32Wme
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 4, 2024

For the game, the Big Green shot 39.2 percent from the floor (20-of-51), including 20.0 percent from 3-point range (3-of-15). Columbia finished at 46.6 percent (27-of-58) and 44.0 percent from behind the arc (11-of-25). The Lions held a commanding 44-29 edge in rebounds, including 12 offensive boards.

After four straight home games, Dartmouth will hit the road for three in a row, beginning next Saturday at Harvard. Gametime is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

"They're a great group of guys who work hard," said McLaughlin. "They'll be ready to go on Monday. This was a hard weekend. When you go back-to-back for the first time, that's a hard thing. It's not just hard for us, it's hard for Columbia too. I needed to coach better, we needed to play better, we needed to finish plays at a higher level on both ends of the floor and we need to be ready to go on Monday."