Eagle Times Staff
HANOVER, NH — The Dartmouth men’s basketball team began Wednesday’s game, Nov. 15, with a vengeance, taking as much as a 30-point lead inside Leede Arena, on the way to beating Westfield State, 79-61, for its first win of the season.
A pair of Big Green players tallied career-high point totals in sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day (20) and junior Nikola Dimitrijevic (14). Dartmouth’s bench produced 40 points, led by senior Dusan Neskovic scoring 13 and classmate Jaren Johnson adding 9.
With the win, the Big Green improves to 1-2 while Westfield State, a perennial contender of the MASCAC (Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference) in Division 3, falls to 2-1.
“They’re deep,” said Dartmouth Head Coach David McLaughlin. “They keep coming at you. They play a certain style and don’t back away from their style. I thought in the first half, we got to clean looks on the offensive end. We kept them off the glass. The game was a little more at the pace that we wanted.
“In the second half, I felt like we didn’t come out with the edge we needed to,” McLaughlin said. “It doesn’t matter what you’re up at halftime; you still need to come out with a certain edge. That gave them some life and because they’re a good team and they have tough kids; they took advantage of that.”
Mitchell-Day’s 20 points came on 7-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
“When we were at practice and into the locker room, Coach Mac made it a point to get me involved in the post, and also doing the little things to get involved everywhere,” said Mitchell-Day. “That means passing it, that means scoring it, it also means putting my teammates in a good position to score and other things. All of that ended up accumulating and I was able to play as I did tonight.”
Dimitrijevic reached double-figure points for the first time in his career and ended with 14 on 6-of-7 shooting, while adding a career-high 9 rebounds to just miss a double-double.
“I felt confident out there,” said Dimitrijevic. “I’m glad coach has confidence in me to get the ball in the right spots.”
Neskovic came off the bench for the first time this season and finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Johnson continued his strong start to the season with 9 points and 7 rebounds, as he continues to lead the Big Green in rebounding average (now 6.7 through three games).
Brendon Hamilton led Westfield State with 14 points.
Dartmouth left little doubt early, jumping out to a 16-3 lead less than 5 minutes in, with Mitchell-Day scoring eight of the Big Green’s first 14 points of the evening.
After the Owls scored 5 quick points, Dartmouth responded with 11 of the ensuing 14 points, as a Dimitrijevic 3-pointer gave the Big Green a 27-11 lead midway through the first half. Not long after, Dartmouth staged a 12-0 run to extend its run to 23-5, as a Neskovic driving layup gave the Big Green a 39-13 advantage with 5:44 on the clock, forcing a Westfield State timeout.
The margin eventually swelled to 30 as two Romeo Myrthil free throws gave Dartmouth a 47-17 lead with 2:02 remaining. Making his first start of the season, Myrthil produced at both ends of the floor, finishing the night with 8 points and 6 rebounds.
Westfield State ended the half on an 8-2 run to pull within 49-25 at the break. Then, the Owls continued the momentum in the second, beginning the half on a 9-2 run to pull within 51-34. That made it a 17-4 run since Dartmouth’s 47-17 lead.
The Big Green would go on to extend their lead back to 27 before Westfield State slowly inched closer. The Owls pulled to as close as 15, 70-55, following a Juju Omot 3-pointer with 5:56 remaining. But that’s as close as they would come.
After a Dimitrijevic second-chance layup with 3:12 remaining, Dartmouth’s final 7 points came from the free throw line to wrap up the 79-61 victory.
For the game, the Big Green shot 42.4 percent from the floor (25-of-59), including 20.7 percent from 3-point range (6-of-29). Westfield State finished at 35.8 percent (24-of-67) and 31.3 percent from behind the arc (10-of-32). Dartmouth held a 46-32 edge in rebounds.
Wednesday’s game came with final exams at Dartmouth set to begin on Friday, Nov. 17.
“This is always a difficult time of year,” said McLaughlin. “We have a very different college than most colleges and universities. We’re in reading day today and tomorrow and then they’re heavy into exams. A lot of our guys were here late last night and here all day today doing papers. They take their academics very seriously, as they should, and they put a lot of pressure on themselves, so it’s almost good to get out on the court and get a little bit of a release. Hopefully, they’re set up for success to have a good couple days of exams.”
After a break for final exams, the Big Green return to action after the Thanksgiving holiday when they play at Saint Louis out of the Atlantic 10 next Saturday, Nov. 25. Gametime is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN+.
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