Led by senior captain Gregg Frame's 21 points, including the 1,000th of his collegiate career, the men's basketball team beat Hofstra 75-61 in a Saturday matinee at Leede Arena. Frame is only the 18th player in Dartmouth history to reach the 1,000 point milestone.
The Big Green (3-12) entered the game on the heels of their 73-70 upset victory over Boston University last Tuesday. Looking to start their first winning streak of the season, Dartmouth came out sluggish, and allowed the 1-14 Flying Dutchmen to take a 12-10 lead midway through the first half.
But when Dartmouth started to hit the open shots and raise the intensity on defense, the result was a 12-0 run. Keyed by two back-to-back steals by Sea Lonergan '97, the Big Green got their transition game goin too and left Hofstra in the dust. When Sean Titus scored to make it 24-14 with 2:24 to play in the half, it was the Dutchmen's first basket in over seven minutes, and the Big Green were in control.
"[Our] defense in the first half was pretty much the game," Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher said. "It allowed us to work out our kinks on offense."
Hofstra opened up the second half with some full court pressure, but Dartmouth had little trouble with the press.
"You've got to be prepared for everything," Faucher said. "They tried pressure, they tried zone, they tried man. ... Whatever they did, we responded."
Both teams picked up the pace, and the game really opened up. While Frame and Lonergan continued to lead the way for Dartmouth, Jacob Capps '96, Keith Stanton '97 and Stan Kowalewski '94 contributed, as well. Both Capps and Stanton capitalized on passes from Frame and Lonergan on the fast break, while Kowalewski fought for his points and rebounds down low.
Despite nearly constant taunting from the Dartmouth fans, James Shaffer managed to pump in 22 points and was the only real threat that Hofstra could mount. Still, the Dutchmen never got the lead below 12 in the second half, and the last part of the game really turned into a guess as to when Frame would score his 1,000th.
When he did, the game was stopped temporarily so that his teammates and the fans could acknowledge his achievement.
"It's really something special," Frame said. "My freshman year, James Blackwell did it, and I never thought that I would be able to. I'm pretty psyched."
This milestone is all the sweeter for Frame, because of the knee problems that have plagued him.
"At one point I was just wondering if I could play this year," he said. "It really puts all the hard work in perspective."
Dartmouth will look to make it three wins in a row when Holy Cross comes to town January 31.
