Beginning a four game homestand, the Dartmouth men's basketball team (5-5, 8-15) finally seemed to have hit stride for the first time this season, garnering a .500 record during its defense of its home court. Displaying tremendous tenacity and consistency on both the defensive and offensive ends of the court, Dartmouth is finally reaching the potential that it displayed flashes of throughout the entire basketball season. With just four games left in the season, the Big Green is in shouting distance of Yale's strangle-hold on second place in the Ancient Eight and looks poised to cap off its turnaround season with a few season-ending victories.
On Friday evening, the Cornell Big Red (6-4, 11-12) were sitting comfortably behind Penn in second place in the Ivy League standings. With such confidence, it would have had no trouble beating Dartmouth for a second time this season, right? Wrong. The Big Green blanketed Cornell, embarrassing them with a stingy defense and hot shooting, creating a game that was uncontested from the opening tip-off. As a result of their tremendous play, Dartmouth easily took the 67-54 W at Leede Arena.
Out of the gate, Dartmouth's balanced attack from Calvin Arnold '06, David Gardner '05, Paul Bode '07 and Mike Lang '06 helped Dartmouth gain a quick 14-7 lead by the 11.14 mark. Extremely patient in its offensive set, the Big Green passed the ball around the perimeter with ease, waiting for either an open three or a chance to dish it down low to Gardner, who used his size advantage to knock in layups with ease.
In the second half, Dartmouth continued its hot shooting with turnaround jumpers, uncontested shots from behind the arc, and easy layups in the paint. Michael McLaren '05 and Lang headed the Green offensive juggernaut, raining down threes like it was hurricane season. By 8:59 in the second half, Dartmouth extended its lead to an impressive 27 points, capping off a 19-4 run that began at the beginning of the half, resulting in a 53-26 Big Green advantage. At this point, the game was pretty much over, and Dartmouth began to relax, showing some signs of offensive vulnerability as it knew the Big Red had absolutely no significant chance at a veritable comeback.
However, it wasn't Dartmouth's offensive firepower that proved to dominate the game, it was its stingy defense in the paint. Completely shutting down Cornell's interior offense, the Big Green held Cornell to a paltry six points in the in the post during the entire contest. What truly kept Dartmouth's defense going however, was the clinic it put on in shot blocking. In one Cornell offensive set, the Big Green blocked three Big Red shots in a row, sent the ball up the court to its offense and drained an easy transition basket. These weren't ugly blocks, though; Dartmouth players were gaining incredible elevation, just swatting away Cornell's futile attempts at sending the ball in.
News must have spread quickly about Dartmouth's utter domination of Cornell because fans packed Leede Arena, creating a hostile atmosphere for the Columbia Lions (3-7, 12-11). Columbia proved to be a much more worthy opponent than Cornell on Saturday night in what proved to be a highly entertaining and close game. In a back-and-forth matchup, no team led by more than six points the entire evening.
Amid chants of "Let's Go Dartmouth" and "Defense! Defense!," Dartmouth took the lead for the first time in the game off of Lang's three pointer at the 16:07 mark.
Trading baskets back and forth throughout the entire half, Dartmouth seemed a little upset by Columbia's full court press, resulting in some trouble in-bounding the ball off of made Columbia baskets. But Dartmouth remained patient and managed to stay within scratching distance of Columbia. With Gardner's ability to draw double teams, which he subsequently plowed through to notch 18 points, Dartmouth never let Columbia get away. With just forty seconds left in the first half, McLaren drained a three to pull within one, entering the half with much to feel confident about.
The second half proved to be just as much of a nail-biter as the first. Setting the tenor for the rest of the game, McLaren was hot from behind the arc, hitting another three at the beginning of the half, earning Dartmouth another lead in the game. However, Columbia felt content trading baskets for much of the night. Dartmouth's hot back court shooting was complemented by excellent post play, creating numerous three point opportunities that Dartmouth capitalized upon.
Playing tough down the stretch, Dartmouth was behind 46-42 at the 5:49 mark, but on two consecutive drives, the Big Green drove the ball to the paint, notched baskets and got fouled, giving it the 47-46 lead that would not be taken from it for the rest of the evening. Shoring up any defensive holes that might have been in question, Dartmouth clamped downed and entered the stretch, allowing just two points during the last five minutes of play as Dartmouth came out on top with a 50-48 victory. The crowd exploded to its feet, rocking the arena with cheers and shouts of jubilation as coach Terry Dunn thanked the audience after the game for their tremendous support that helped the Big Green tough out its contest against Columbia.
Dartmouth hopes to extend its winning streak next weekend at Leede Arena as it looks to take on Brown and Yale for two very important contests that could shoot Dartmouth towards the top of the Ivy League rankings. If Dartmouth plays like it did this weekend, victory is well within its grasp, as it looks to get to the ten-win mark for the season.
