The men's basketball team proved its mettle this weekend with a strong win over Princeton, 64-56, and a tough 85-70 loss against the national power, the University of Pennsylvania.
Dartmouth hoops faithful are hoping that this weekend signifies the beginning of more consistent play from the Big Green, which before the weekend held a sluggish 3-7 record.
Dartmouth 64 Princeton 56
On Friday night Dartmouth slapped the Princeton Tigers with an early 9-0 deficit and never looked back, not once relinquishing the lead. Dartmouth's stifling defense asphyxiated several of Princeton's starters, with only power forward Chris Doyal and All-Ivy center Rick Hielscher able to score consistently. The Big Green managed to offset Hielscher's first-half heroics, in which the center scored 17 of Princeton's 25 points
Meanwhile, the Tiger backcourt pulled a disappearing act, as supersoph Sydney Johnson was shut down by fellow sophomore Sea Lonergan and held to a mere two points. When set free from Lonergan's clutches, Johnson scored 25 points against Harvard Saturday night.
The Big Green offense was similarly effective, often running on Princeton's vaunted defense. This led to balanced scoring, although Lonergan and Kenny Mitchell '97 set the pace, each tallying 14 points.
The Big Green also displayed resilience, responding to any Princeton run with one of their own. Midway through the second half, with Princeton having closed to within 42-39, the Big Green answered the call, reeling off six straight points.
Jacob Capps '96 dropped in two free throws, Brian Gilpin '97 added two of his own, and then Gilpin jammed one home off a feed from Mitchell, putting the exclamation point on Dartmouth's rally.
Soon afterwards, Lonergan displayed his dominance over Johnson by drawing a foul from Johnson and hitting the free throws, then swatting Johnson's three-point attempt on the other end.
Dartmouth's convincing victory over the Tigers may be a sign that the Dartmouth's basketball program is on the rise. This season, the Tigers played nationally-ranked Syracuse close before succumbing, 67-65.
In addition, Dartmouth displayed a strong perimeter defense against the Tigers. Johnson was held to a mere four field goal attempts, all of which he missed, and Princeton's starting guards and small forward combined contributed a grand total of four points to the team effort, shooting one for 10 from the field.
Dartmouth's defense did an admirable job containing Princeton's offense, although Hielscher had his way underneath, carrying Princeton on his back with 34 points.
Penn 85 Dartmouth 70
For the Big Green, Saturday night's game was an opportunity to gauge their progress. Penn, on the other hand, was taking aim at the Ivy League record for consecutive wins.
Dartmouth delighted its fans early, jumping out to a 14-8 lead behind Gilpin's six points. However, the highlight of the run was sparked by a defensive play.
Capps blocked Penn star Jerome Allen hard from behind. Jamie Halligan scooped up the rejected ball and drove down the length of the court for a bucket and a foul, which he converted for a three-point play.
However, an upset was not meant to be. The Big Green gave its all, but could not overcome Penn's sheer talent and especially its depth.
Dartmouth's defense focused on big guns Allen and Matt Maloney, and rightfully so, but it was small forward Scott Kegler who came up big for the Quakers. Kegler hit seven of nine from three-point range en-route to a 26-point night. Dartmouth fell more and more behind as the game progressed, but made a run near the end of the game, cutting a 19-point margin to a scant eight at 75-67.
But this run came at an inopportune time for the Big Green as only 1:30 remained in the game. Penn began to run out the clock and the Big Green were forced to foul.
As Coach David Faucher commented, "Every time we made a run, they answered offen-sively ... with different people. They have such great balance and are difficult to shut down."
Experience was another factor in this game as Penn's starting lineup consisted of five seniors who "played like seniors," as Faucher termed it, while Dartmouth started four sophomores.
But inexperience will soon translate to ample seasoning, as the sophomore class matures and as freshmen such as P.J. Halas and Asa Palmer see more time.
Penn coach Fran Dunphy called the future of the Big Green "outstanding," commenting that Dartmouth had "a lot of young kids who are very good players."
