"The most important thing was to come out and make sure we competed," co-captain Jvonte Brooks '15 said. "It doesn't matter the level of the competition, we just want to keep growing as a team every time we step on the court."
Thursday night went as planned, and the Big Green dominated its out-of-conference opponent to the tune of 80-42.
The men appear to be figuring out their game at the perfect time, as they are entering the Ivy League portion of their schedule.
"I think we're starting to make some progress in terms of knowing how hard we have to play every possession," head coach Paul Cormier said. "We defended well and we dominated the boards. That's what should happen in a Division I versus a Division III matchup."
The Big Green never looked back after a strong start, enjoying a 13-point lead 10 minutes into the game. Dartmouth was able to capitalize on Colby-Sawyer's (5-9, 5-3 NAC) poor shooting percentage of 17.6 percent by taking advantage of its own opportunities, going seven for 11.
Offensively, the Big Green was in complete control of the game. After poor shooting earlier in the season, the Dartmouth squad really seems to have found its range in recent games. Point guard Alex Mitola '16 leads the team in shots from the three-point range and is currently fifth in the Ivy League for three-pointers made per game.
"Coach has been making us come in and shoot a lot more, that's for sure," Kevin Crescenzi '16 said. "He's been taking the initiative and making sure we get in the gym and get shots up. Sometimes you just have to go over certain aspects of your game."
The Big Green entered the locker room with a lead of 19 points and a large margin of error available. During the first half, the Big Green went six for 13 with three-pointers and 12 for 21 total field goals.
Gabas Maldunas '15 towered over the Chargers. His advantage was obvious as he dominated play in the paint, tallying four assists, nine rebounds and a block. Maldunas sits at sixth in the Ivy League for defensive rebounds.
"I'm still trying to get him composed on the offense end and playing as hard as he possibly can on the defensive end," Cormier said. "We need that if we're going to be good."
Defensively, Dartmouth benefited from its opponent's errors, as the Chargers were only able to convert seven field goals out of 30 attempts. Not a single Colby-Sawyer player hit more than one field goal, and Colby-Sawyer did not get any chances at the foul line in the first half.
Colby-Sawyer sophomore forward Kyle Nelson enjoyed a run of form early in the second accounting for 11 of his team's 25 points but had to temporarily leave the game five minutes into the second period when one of his contacts popped out.
Nelson lost his fire during his short time off the court, and Colby-Sawyer found itself in Dartmouth's rearview mirror once again.
Brooks charged the basket for a layup eight minutes into the second, earning the Big Green its largest lead margin of the game 24 points. Brooks put an exclamation mark on his performance Thursday night with a breakaway one-handed dunk one minute after his three-point play.
"He's our captain, so we look to him for inspiration," Crescenzi said. "He's got to set the example on the court, and he did that today with some big plays."
The Big Green continued to sink its shots as the Chargers continued to miss, and with two minutes left in the game, Dartmouth benefited from a 75-39 lead.
Will McConnell '15, who only had five field goal attempts his freshman season, entered the game in the final two minutes, knocked down a three and followed it up with a converted free throw, earning a huge applause from the Big Green bench.
"We love it when we get to see players who don't get as much time go out there and have a good time," Brooks said. "They work their butts off in practice like the rest of us so it's always cool to see them go out and perform."
The Big Green will get a chance to catch their breath this weekend before they head to Harvard on Jan. 26.
"We lost last week obviously, but I still think it was a good showing," Brooks said. "Coming off this game we wanted to build a little momentum going into next weekend."
