Dartmouth hoops fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief. The men's basketball team resurrected this weekend, singeing Cornell, 87-72, in Ithaca, and pounding hapless Columbia, 77-57, in New York City.
With the wins, the Big Green surged ahead in the Ivy League standings, moving into a second-place tie with Brown and forcing the University of Pennsylvania to cast a suspicious look behind. The Quakers are 5-0 in the league and playing well, but ... stranger things have happened.
The victories are impressive because the Big Green had struggled in the weeks before, limping into the weekend with a three-game losing streak. Tuesday's surprise loss to 5-11 Maine forced observers to question the team, but it appears Dartmouth is back on track for now.
Admittedly, Cornell and Columbia are not in the thick of the Ivy hunt, but Dartmouth's dominance over these teams was clear. The Big Green ran off large runs in each game to pull ahead.
Dartmouth 87, Cornell 72
Against the Big Red, Dartmouth trailed, 29-20, with less than seven minutes to go in the first half, but the Big Green spun off 11 unanswered points to go up by two, 31-29, with 1:45 to play in the first half.
Early in the second half, Cornell and Dartmouth engaged in a spirited tug-of-war for the lead, which changed hands nine times in less than eight minutes. But the Big Green tired of this and gave the rope one hard tug, sending Cornell flailing into the icy Ithaca water.
The Big Green pulled away with a 17-6 show of strength, putting an end to the silly lead exchanges. When the spray cleared over Ithaca with less than 6:48 left in the game, Dartmouth held a 10-point lead which it would not relinquish. Point guard Kenny Mitchell '97 hit eight of 10 foul shots down the stretch to crush possible resuscitation efforts.
Sea Lonergan '97 led the way for the Big Green with a career-high 35 points.
Dartmouth 77, Columbia 57
Against the toothless Lions, the Green fell behind early, 13-6, but rode out a powerful 35-10 wave to finish out the half. Lonergan and Jamie Halligan '95 combined for 14 of the first 16 points of this run, but soon, the rest of the Big Green got into the act. Brian Gilpin '97, Jacob Capps '96, P.J. Halas '98 and Mitchell also put in their two bits worth.
At the end of the half, Dartmouth lead by 18, at 41-23. But they had the audacity to fatten the bulge, feeding it until it reached an obese 30 midway through the half.
With that cushion, Coach David Faucher let the second team to flex its muscles.
Keith Stanton '97 made the most of his 14 minutes, recording nine points and six rebounds. Freshman Asa Palmer also used his time well, contributing six points and seven rebounds to the rout in 16 minutes of play.
The Big Green and their fans hope these wins are indicative of the future.
This will be tested on Friday when Dartmouth takes on Brown at Leede Arena.
