The Dartmouth men's basketball team suffered their first Ivy league loss at the hands of visiting Harvard 40-59 Saturday night at home in a crowded Leede Arena.
Although Dartmouth Coach Dave Faucher was quick to credit the Cambridge crew for their tenacious defense, he summed up his squad's performance as a "debacle."
"That's the poorest we've looked in a very long time, we couldn't convert even easy opportunities," Faucher said.
In fact, Dartmouth shot less than 30 percent from the floor, resulting in their lowest point output (40) of the season since Rice kept the Big Green to 54 on last December.
This season Dartmouth averages over 70 points per game
Early on, Dartmouth looked fine. With a capacity crowd behind them, the Big Green battled the Crimson fairly even through the first half.
Sea Lonergan '97 netted nine of Dartmouth's first 17 points and it looked as if he was off to one of his typical high scoring nights.
In the first half, the Big Green defense also shut down Harvard's leading scorer, Kyle Snowden because of comprehensive coverage from Brian Gilpin '97.
With authority, Gilpin stuffed three of Snowden's first half attempts and held him to just two points.
Additionally, Gilpin was creating open shots for himself with good inside moves. But his shots just were not falling, and Gilpin entered halftime 1-5 from the field.
At the half, Harvard led 28-25. In addition to the lead, Harvard was dominating the paint by out rebounding Dartmouth 25-11. The Crimson has out rebounded ten of their first 11 opponents so far this year.
"We are all about defense and crashing the boards," Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said. "Nothing else."
Harvard did not need much else. Throughout the second half, the Crimson limited the Big Green to one shot each possession as Harvard rebounded each Dartmouth miss.
"As they took control of the boards, we got anxious to shoot at the first opportunity," Gilpin said. "They mentally took us out of it."
At the other end, Harvard crashed the offensive boards and got multiple attempts each possession.
"Rebounding cost us the game," Faucher said.
"They had four or five opportunities each time, and we were on defense the whole game."
Dartmouth was well within reach down only 37-31 with 11 minutes to play. But Harvard responded with a 14-0 run that put the game away.
More impressive for the Crimson was to prevent Dartmouth's scoring leader Lonergan from scoring in the second half.
"It's the most disappointing day of my Dartmouth career," said Gilpin who finished with six points.
Dartmouth had beaten Harvard earlier this season 70-61 in Cambridge.
"This loss really stings," Faucher said. "Now [this week] we must begin from grass roots to gain respect, especially from our fans." Dartmouth fans can get another look at the Big Green as they host Columbia and Cornell at home Jan. 12-13.
Dartmouth dropped to 6-5 overall and 1-1 in the Ivy League, while Harvard improved to 7-5 and 1-1 in League competition.
