EAGLE TIMES STAFF
ALBANY, NY — UAlbany used a 12-2 run to turn a 5-point Big Green lead into a 5-point Great Danes’ advantage, which the Dartmouth men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome, falling 73-68 on Saturday evening inside Broadview Center. Senior Dusan Neskovic led the offense with a team-high 22 points, the third 20+ point effort in four road games this season. Classmate Jaren Johnson posted a career-high 16 points, 10 coming in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.
With the win, the Great Danes improve to 5-3 while Dartmouth falls to 1-5.
“I thought the guys played hard and I thought they played together,” said Big Green Head Coach David McLaughlin. “We’ll learn a lot from this game; we’ll learn a lot from the film of it. There’s a lot of things we need to do better at on both sides of the ball. Against a team like [UAlbany] who’s very talented, in a good environment, it was a good test for us. I wish we had some possessions where we played a little better at both ends of the ball. We all have to get back to work, players and coaches, and get ready for [practice] Monday.”
Neskovic’s 22 points came on 8-of-16 shooting, including 7-of-9 from inside the 3-point arc. He is now averaging 21.5 points on the road this season with efforts of 23, 24, 17 and 22 points. Johnson shot 6-of-11 from the floor while adding six rebounds, two assists and just one turnover. In his last three games, all starts, the point guard has turned the ball over just twice in 100 minutes of action, while dishing 10 assists.
“Jaren played really hard,” McLaughlin said. “That’s the way he’s been practicing. He’s been in the gym a lot on his own working on his game, and it shows. He’s bringing a lot to the table for us.”
Sophomores Jackson Munro and Jayden Williams each added 8 points, with Munro knocking down 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Junior Nikola Dimitrijevic contributed on both ends of the floor, scoring 5 points and posting seven rebounds and a career-high four blocks, including a number of emphatic rejections. Junior Romeo Myrthil also finished with a career-high four blocks, as the Big Green had nine as a team, their most blocks in nearly 10 years — since also having nine on Dec. 21, 2013, at home vs. Longwood. The nine blocks were tied for the second most blocks in the Ivy League this season.
An early Williams 3-pointer put the Big Green in front, 9-8, but the Great Danes answered with a 10-2 run, as a Muneer Newton dunk gave UAlbany an 18-11 lead with 10:32 on the first-half clock.
Dartmouth immediately answered with 7 consecutive points — via a Neskovic dunk and 3-pointer, and Dimitrijevic layup — which evened the score at 18 with 8:11 left in the first.
UAlbany led for much of the ensuing minutes until a 7-0 Big Green run, beginning with a Munro 3-pointer and ending with consecutive baskets from Neskovic, to put Dartmouth ahead, 28-26, with 3:01 until halftime.
The Great Danes’ lead swelled back to five, but a Neskovic 3-point play with 15 seconds on the clock gave him 16 first-half points and helped Dartmouth pull within 36-35 after 20 minutes of play.
The Big Green began the second half with 6 of the first 7 points, with baskets from Williams, Johnson and Myrthil, to open a 41-37 lead. The following minutes saw the Great Danes pull even at 45 before a Munro 3-pointer helped put Dartmouth in front by five, 50-45. But UAlbany answered with five straight of its own.
With Dartmouth leading 52-50, seven consecutive UAlbany points gave the Great Danes a 57-52 lead, with their lead eventually reaching eight at 63-55 with 4:04 remaining. A Neskovic 4-point play gave the Big Green some life, pulling them within 63-59 with 3:42 to go, but Dartmouth couldn’t get any closer.
“Progress isn’t always vertical,” said McLaughlin. “That’s where we are right now. We’re chasing progress; we need to make sure we keep getting better.”
For the game, Dartmouth shot 44.6 percent from the floor (25-of-56), including 23.1 percent from 3-point range (6-of-26). UAlbany finished at 42.9 percent (27-of-63) and 25.0 percent from behind the arc (5-of-20). The Great Danes held a 42-35 edge on the boards. Eighteen turnovers hurt the Big Green; UAlbany finished with 14.
After three straight at home, the Big Green return home for three consecutive games, hosting New Hampshire (Dec. 6), Marist (Dec. 9) and Boston University (Dec. 13) in the span of a week. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
To purchase tickets, head to DartmouthSports.com/tickets or call the ticket office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 603-646-2466.
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