It was deja vu all over again for Dartmouth against the visiting Harvard Crimson last night in Leede Arena. Just like last year, the Big Green came into the Ivy League home opener with a strong non-league performance and having already defeated the Crimson in Cambridge. Just like last year, the Crimson came up to Hanover and defeated an offensively lackluster Big Green, leaving the team scratching their heads trying to figure what went wrong in the 6456 loss.
"We came in really tense and it showed early on offense," Head coach Dave Faucher said of the 93 Big Green who are 11 in Ivy League play after the loss. "It seemed like the team was playing with the weight of the world on their shoulders, remembering last year. As a result, we dug ourselves into a hole that we could never get out of with the way we were shooting the ball."
The Crimson's early three point barrage in the first half prevented the Big Green from digging out of that hole. After trading buckets to open the half, Harvard used a couple of three pointers from their speedy backcourt to open up a lead of 2114.
Dartmouth refused to roll over though, and established a pattern of fighting back that would persist throughout the game. After guard Sea Lonergan '97 keyed a run with a steal and a lay-up to close the gap to 2318, Harvard forward Kyle Snowden surprised the Big Green by stepping out and hitting a wide-open three pointer from the top of the key.
"Kyle stepped out and I just let him go figuring that he wouldn't take the shot since he only took three or four all of last season," center Brian Gilpin '97 said. "He hit the shot though and it really just hurt our momentum because it seemed like every time we got back within four or five they would hit a three and we'd be down eight or nine again."
Snowden's basket from downtown, followed by two three pointers from shooting guards David Weaver and David Damain extended the Crimson lead to 3422. Once again though, Dartmouth clawed its way back into the game with a 72 run to finish the half and cut the Crimson lead to seven points going into the locker room.
The Big Green seemed to come out and open the final 20 minutes of play with the same fire they had at the end of first half when forward Keith Stanton '97 hit the opening shot of the half to bring Dartmouth within 3631.
But that was as close as the Big Green would come as they failed to convert on offense, missing 10 of their next 11 shots. Harvard took advantage of the Big Green's shooting woes by outscoring Dartmouth 122 in the next six minutes to build a 15point lead that the Big Green would consistently chip away at but never be able to overcome.
The first attempt to overcome the Crimson lead would come immediately as the defense stepped up in the second half. Getting steals from the backcourt combination of P.J. Halas '98, Kenny Mitchell '97 and Lonergan, the Big Green responded with seven unanswered points, including two three pointers from Mitchell that brought the crowd of 1,945 to its feet.
The two teams then traded baskets before Dartmouth's offense really betrayed then. Trailing 5245, the Big Green held Harvard scoreless on seven consecutive trips down the floor but were unable to get any points of their own. The Crimson finally broke the spell and held off a late comeback attempt by hitting free throws down the stretch to give Harvard the final eight point margin, 6456.
"We made the plays on defense and we really held them in the second half," Faucher said. "But we just couldn't convert on offense when we had the chances and their were plenty of them. Sea [Lonergan] missed a couple of lay-ups on the fast break, we blew some two on one opportunities and Gilpin missed a couple of four or five footers."
"We had the looks and we had the plays to give us a chance to beat them but the buckets were just not falling," he said.
The offense missed the scoring of forward Rob Davis '99, who is academically ineligible and will not play the rest of the season.
Although the rotation of Stanton, freshman Shaun Gee '00 and Jason Fisher '97 pulled down rebounds, they weren't able to fill the offensive hole left by the loss of Davis.
"Rob is our best shooter and looking at the production we got from the four spot, we could have used him on the floor. But there is no use in looking back because he isn't going to be playing and we need to get it done without him," he said.
Dartmouth had four players in double figures, led by Halas and Lonergan who each scored 13 points, although Lonergan managed only two points in the second half.
Mitchell had all 12 of his points in the second half and Gilpin, even though he scored 10 points, was never a factor in the ball game.
Snowden paced the Crimson with 18 points, playing the entire game, while point guard Tim Hill finished with 16 points.
The Big Green are right back in action as Cornell and Columbia come into Leede Arena on Friday and Saturday as Dartmouth continues its Ivy League schedule.
"We can't sit around and feel sorry for ourselves because Cornell is 7-3 and has two of the best players in the league," Faucher said.
"It's a disappointing loss but it takes all 14 games to decide a season, so our approach isn't going to change," he said.
