Defensive Effort for Naught in 66-54 Loss at Columbia

Friday, January 27

New York, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-13, 0-3

Columbia

8-8, 2-1

Dartmouth

Columbia

Defensive Effort for Naught in 66-54 Loss at Columbia

1/27/2017 8:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)Archived ILDN Broadcast Box Score: Columbia 66, Dartmouth 54

By: Dartmouth

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Luke Petrasek scored 18 points to help host Columbia defeat Dartmouth in a defensive struggle at Levien Gymnasium on Friday night, 66-54. Neither team shot even 40 percent from the floor, but the Lions (8-8, 2-1 Ivy) forced the Big Green (3-13, 0-3 Ivy) into a season-high 21 turnovers to maintain control of the game.

Sophomore Evan Boudreaux was the lone Dartmouth player to reach double figures with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a pair of three-pointers, plus grabbed a team-high six rebounds as the Big Green bested Columbia on the boards, 39-35. While the Lions were shooting just 35.8 percent (24-of-67), the turnovers helped them attempt 18 more shots while holding Dartmouth to 38.8 percent (19-of-47).

Petrasek hit 7-of-14 with two triples that came on back-to-back possessions in the second half to extend Columbia's lead to 16 with seven minutes to play. Jeff Coby chipped in 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting while Lukas Meisner came off the bench to grab a game-high nine rebounds.

The Big Green attacked the Columbia zone with the long ball early with each of their first three buckets coming from behind the arc. Freshman Brendan Barry cranked the third one for an early 9-8 lead, which turned out to be Dartmouth's last advantage of the game.

With the score tied at 10, Petrasek got going by providing three of the next four Lion field goals to build up an 18-14 lead. After two C.J. Davis free throws Barry ripped off his second trifecta to cut the gap to three at 20-17. But Quinton Adlesh sparked a 12-2 Columbia run to end the half by answering with a long ball of his own as the Lion defense held Dartmouth to just a Boudreaux basket over the last six minutes of the stanza.

In the second half, Columbia was able to keep the Big Green at arm's length and never let them threaten to steal the game. Freshman Ian Sistare was able to get Dartmouth within single digits with his three-point play about five minutes into the period, but Coby put back his own miss at the other end to boost the difference back to 11.

When freshman Will Emery caught a long outlet pass and stuffed it home moments later, the Big Green looked to be on the comeback trail, closing the gap to 39-30. But another second-chance opportunity led to a Coby three-point play, and after senior Ike Ngwudo canned an open jumper, Columbia's Conor Voss got the crowd of 1,274 on their feet with a two-hand jam.

Still, with just under eight minutes to play, Dartmouth still had hope alive to rally, trailing by 10 after a three-point play by junior Taylor Johnson. That's when Petrasek went on a personal eight-point run with his two treys and a pair of foul shots to give the Lions their largest lead of the night at 59-41.

Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin did get an opportunity to see some of his younger players get some time in the waning minutes with freshmen James Foye and Jonas Stakeliunas each knocking down a three-pointer, the first collegiate points for the latter.

The Big Green are back in action on Saturday night when they play at Cornell (5-13, 1-2 Ivy) at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network as well as ESPN3.