After taking a 12-11 lead 7:55 into its game against Colgate University, the Big Green men's basketball team held on to earn its second victory of the season, 80-63, on Saturday at home.
Dartmouth (2-4, 0-0 Ivy) notched its first win at home against the Raiders (0-5, 0-0 Patriot) after falling to Quinnipiac University last Tuesday in Hanover, 69-52.
"We are in a rebuilding mode, so any time you work as hard as the players work and they can get rewarded with a solid home win is something that is going to make coming to practice a lot easier because they have had a positive experience," head coach Paul Cormier said on Saturday.
Captain Clive Weeden '11 led the Big Green in scoring with 14 points against Colgate, knocking down four field goals and six free throws. He also grabbed 12 rebounds for his third career double-double.
"I just tried to be much more aggressive on the offensive side," Weeden said. "My teammates were able to get me the ball in places to score."
Six Big Green players scored in the double digits, allowing Dartmouth to post its largest score this season. The Big Green has not scored over 80 points since an 83-54 win over Lyndon State College in December of last year.
Dartmouth also outrebounded the Raiders, 42-32.
"It was a total team effort," Cormier said. "This is how good we can be when we play as a team. Colgate is in a similar situation in which they are rebuilding as well, so having them at home was a game that I felt was winnable."
In Tuesday's 69-52 loss, however, the Bobcats (3-1, 0-0 NEC) jumped to an early lead and never let Dartmouth even tie up the score.
Dartmouth was down only 33-27 at the half, but Quinnipiac established a double-digit lead midway through the second half.
David Rufful '12 recorded Dartmouth's first jumper two minutes into the game, but the Big Green failed to score again for another five minutes. The Bobcats established a 15-2 lead after the first six minutes.
"We didn't shoot the ball well early," Cormier said. "When that happens against a good and very athletic opponent, putting yourself in the hole makes it tough to rebound. The guys did a good job to stay in the game, but we are not good enough to come up empty in as many offensive possessions that we had and still be able to stay competitive with a team as good as Quinnipiac."
While Dartmouth held the Bobcats to no fast-break points, Quinnipiac scored 21 points off of Dartmouth turnovers. Though the Big Green forced 14 turnovers, Dartmouth was only able to score 12 points off of those turnovers.
The Big Green was able to notch eight fast-break points, all in the second half.
On both the offensive and defensive end, Dartmouth was outrebounded by the Bobcats by an overall margin of 43-30. Quinnipiac, however, still managed to score seven second-chance points in the first half.
"We have been out rebounded in the games that we have lost and overall out-worked," Weeden said. "We pride ourselves on our work ethic so without it, it's hard to win games."
Rufful and Kirk Crecco '12 led the Big Green with 11 points each, while three Bobcats topped the field with 15 points each.
Dartmouth shot 36.5 percent from the floor, while Quinnipiac shot 43.9 percent. The Bobcats also more than doubled the Big Green three-point percentage, scoring on 46.7 percent of shots from beyond the arc.
Quinnipiac took its largest lead of the game with just over two minutes left in the second half, as Dartmouth trailed by 20 points.
Last season, the Big Green lost to both Colgate, 63-44, and the Bobcats, 73-51.
Dartmouth is back in action against the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt., at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The Big Green then returns home to take on Army at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Last year, Dartmouth suffered a tight loss to the Catamounts, 63-58, and fell to Army, 59-46.
"We are always trying to improve," Cormier said. "Vermont is a very good team that has beaten two teams, Quinnipiac and Loyola, that handedly beat us. We will have our work cut out for us."
