Dartmouth (2-15, 0-4) resumed Ivy League basketball this weekend with a pair of games on the road. On Friday, the Big Green traveled to Providence and faced Brown (6-10, 2-1), where they lost a double-overtime nailbiter 73-70. The team then tried to turn things around on Saturday, but was defeated by Yale in a 72-55 contest.
Dartmouth faced Brown on Friday night with hopes of resurrecting its season and creating a splash in the Ivy League. Co-captain Mike Lang '06 really stepped up his game in the second half, scoring all 21 of his points in the last 20 minutes of regulation and the two overtimes in a desperate effort to give the men in green a boost and a victory.
"I started to play more freely and just going on instinct," said Lang. "I moved without the ball well and got into the best position to score. Whenever the opportunity arose where I was open, I stepped up and took the shot. I was working with a lot of confidence and everything just seemed to flow."
The game started out very evenly, with both teams trading leads. At the beginning of the first half, Dartmouth trailed 10-9 before opening up a 10-0 spurt topped off by an NBA range three courtesy of Alex Barnett '09. Brown countered with a run of its own to tie the game up at 19-19 with five minutes left in the half.
Later in the period, Barnett gave Dartmouth the lead 25-23, but Brown knocked in four unanswered points to close out the half 27-25. Barnett and Leon Pattman '07 led the Green with seven points each during that half.
The game remained close during the second frame as Lang turned up the heat on his offensive game. Dartmouth managed to out-rebound Brown 29-27 in the contest and had tremendous contributions from the bench. Forty-two of Dartmouth's 70 points came from non-starters.
But the game was decided in the overtimes, as both teams fought valiantly to get the win. At the beginning of second OT, Brown's Damon Huffman and Lang traded threes to tie the game at 67. Huffman dropped in another from behind the arc after a made Brown free throw to give the Bears a four-point double-OT advantage. Pattman responded with a three of his own with 1:54 remaining to bring the game to within one, 71-70.
Despite this, Dartmouth couldn't convert during the final two minutes and watched as Brown iced the victory from the charity stripe; Brown hit two of four free throws down the stretch.
"It was definitely a tough loss," said Lang. "You hate to be on the losing side of a game like this. However, being a part of close games like this helps you learn what you need and what you do not need to do to win.
"A couple of possessions down the stretch did not go our way and we have to adapt to this. Also, a few defensive lapses late pushed us behind and we found ourselves trying to play catch up. I do think it will help us during the rest of our season. It will help us in any close game situations we find ourselves in."
On Saturday, Dartmouth was unable to avoid the weekend sweep. After the Big Green took an early 9-8 lead, the Bulldogs pulled away with a 15-2 run during a seven-minute Dartmouth scoreless stretch.
Dan Biber '09, who had a career best 16 points, gave Dartmouth seven straight tallies to reduce the Yale lead to single digits, 30-22.
After Johnathan Ball '08 cut the deficit to four with 11:15 remaining, Dartmouth scored just four points over the next 5:20. During that time, Yale went on a 14-point run, marked by back-to-back threes by Eric Flato. From there, it was all Yale, and Dartmouth failed to get within 10 for the rest of the game.
Biber, who had a previous high of six points against Quinnipiac, was the only Dartmouth player to score double digits. Dartmouth shot 35.6 percent from the field compared to Yale's impressive 55.8 percent.
Next week, Dartmouth will continue its road trip against Cornell and Columbia on Friday and Saturday evenings. The Big Green will try to get its first win in the Ivy League against a Columbia team that dredges up the bottom of the Ivy League standings and a Cornell team that hasn't looked much better.
