Hoops dominated by Colonials
By Heita Miki
Published on Thursday, November 16, 2006
The Big Green suffered a 94-49 loss to George Washington Tuesday night. The Colonials never loosened their grip on the game, blowing out the Big Green not only on the scoreboard, but also in virtually every statistical category.
In its first visit to George Washington, Dartmouth was looking to steal a win from a solid squad that made the NCAA tournament and only lost once in the regular season last year. However, the Colonials erased any thoughts of an upset early on, wasting no time in building a lead. George Washington got off to a quick start, hitting 10 out of its first 12 shots and gaining a 22-7 advantage less than eight minutes into the game.
The Colonials never looked back and handed Dartmouth its second loss against an Atlantic 10 squad on the road this season, as the Big Green fell 94-49 in Washington, D.C.
The top scorer for the Big Green (0-2, 0-0 Ivy) was Jason Meyer '06 with 11 points. Brian McMillan '08 had six rebounds and Marlon Sanders '09 added six assists to lead the team in those respective categories.
Carl Elliot '07 was the top scorer for the Colonials (2-0, 0-0 A-10), scoring 29 points. He connected on over 70 percent of his field goals and was a perfect 7-for-7 on free throws. Regis Koundija '07 added 15 points and Maureece Rice '08 scored 13 to contribute to the score board. Dokun Akingbade '07 grabbed ten rebounds.
Much like last Sunday's game versus Massachusetts, the Big Green dug themselves into a hole early in the game. On the defensive end, the Big Green were frustrated by the quickness of the George Washington offense and allowed the Colonials to get good looks at the basket. This contributed to the high shooting percentage throughout the game, including the 10-for-12 shooting that broke the game open early in the first half. The Colonials shot 52.8 percent for the half and 54.1 percent for the game.
George Washington's team speed also frustrated Dartmouth on the offensive end. The Big Green were forced into committing an uncharacteristically high number of turnovers and could not get many clean looks at the basket. Dartmouth was held to just 30.4 percent shooting in the first half.
At halftime, George Washington had built up a commanding 52-18 lead, and had already surpassed the Big Green's output for the total game.
In the second half, Dartmouth showed that it was going to fight until the end by matching the Colonials basket for basket. However, Dartmouth was never able to threaten the 34-point lead George Washington carried into the half as the margin was too big to overcome.
The Big Green improved their shooting percentage in the second half, but the team still could not find an effective solution in matching the Colonials' quickness. George Washington did a much better job of controlling the boards throughout the game as well, grabbing 36 rebounds against Dartmouth's 21 and creating more second-chance opportunities.
What doomed the Big Green in this game were turnovers. Dartmouth turned over possession 24 times in the contest and the Colonials capitalized, scoring 37 points off of Dartmouth's turnovers.
Dartmouth also committed an uncharacteristically high number of fouls in this game. The Colonials took full advantage, going 20-for-24 from the charity stripe. On the other hand, the Big Green were only able to get to the free throw line four times.
The players expressed their frustration in not being able to execute their game plan.
"It was a tough loss to take, because we never were able to play our game. We just didn't weather their runs well enough, and basically couldn't defend their quickness on all fronts," said Meyer.
Although it was a tough loss for the Big Green, the team will learn from its losses and focus on its upcoming home opener and making a run for the Ivy League title.
"We saw another level of intensity that we have to try to get to be the team that we can be. It was a learning experience that we should be able to use for the rest of the year," Dan Biber '09 said.
The team will be back on the court this Saturday at Leede Arena in its home opener against the Colgate Red Raiders (0-1, 0-0 Patriot League), as the Big Green will look to earn their first victory of the season. The team plays the University of Kansas on Tuesday.