This season's roller coaster ride took another dip this weekend as the Big Green men's basketball team dropped games on the road to powers Pennsylvania and Princeton.
The losses virtually eliminated the Big Green from Ivy title contention, although few doubted that Penn would win it this year, anyhow.
Pennsylvania 73, Dartmouth 62
On Friday, at the intimidating Palestra in Philadelphia, Penn., the men kept the game close before falling, 73-62. After trailing 22-8 early, the men fashioned a 16-5 run to pull within three, 27-24. Five different players contributed to this spurt.
In the second half, the Big Green pulled within one at 43-42 with 13:16 remaining, but then went cold offensively, scoring only four points in the next seven minutes. The Quakers kept adding to the lead and the final margin of 11 was the largest of the game.
Points in the paint are usually an accurate barometer of a team's success, but not in this case. The Big Green won the battle in the paint, outscoring Penn 42-40 inside, but may not have exploited their advantage enough. Brian Gilpin '97 scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to pace Dartmouth.
Open treys are mercurial creatures. They can drop through the net in a short but powerful flurry, or they can leave one out in the cold, clanging off the rim consistently. It was a cold night for the Big Green, who shot a horrendous one of 17 from three-point range.
Penn sixth man Ira Bowman touched Dartmouth for eight steals, many of which he converted into slams on the other end, accounting for the bulk of his 20 points. The last time out, unheralded small forward Scott Kegler had burned the Big Green for 26 points.
"Defensive lapses against teams that aren't so solid at every position don't hurt you as much," sophomore guard Kenny Mitchell said.
The Big Green contained All-Ivy point guard Matt Maloney once more, holding him to 10 points on three of eight shooting, but Bowman picked up the slack. By comparison, Maloney scored 34 against Harvard on Saturday night. The Quakers just take what the defense gives them.
Sea Lonergan '97 scored 13 points and pulled down six boards for the Big Green in the losing effort.
Princeton 57, Dartmouth 48
Against Princeton on Saturday, the Big Green led by 11 at intermission, 34-23, but the Tigers held Dartmouth to an anemic four for 24 shooting performance in the second half, to pull in front in a big way and win 57-48.
The jungle cats outscored the Big Green 34-14 in the second half, displaying the trademark defense and patient offense that continue to inspire fear in highly-ranked opponents as it did in the Tigers' heyday.
Capps was high man for the Big Green, scoring 17 points and adding eight rebounds, but he scored 13 of those points in the first half. Dartmouth's play in the first half seemed to herald better things to come, as the Big Green ran off a 14-4 run to finish the half, but alas, it was not to be.
Princeton stifled the Dartmouth offense in the second half to claim the victory.
Dartmouth faces Brown and Yale in away games on Friday and Saturday.
