In the Princeton game, Dartmouth was down 46-40 with just 2:47 left in the game when forward Johnathan Ball '08 went to the line and sunk a free throw. Forward Chuck Flynn '08 drained two more from the charity stripe soon after and narrowed the deficit to three, 46-43.
With 13 seconds left, the Big Green seniors stepped up, hoping not to let another close game fall from their grasp. Forward Calvin Arnold '06 blocked a Tigers' attempt and then guard Mike Lang '06 connected on a jumper in the lane to bring Dartmouth within one.
With the shot clock turned off and the score 46-45, Dartmouth had to start fouling Princeton players every time they touched the ball in an effort to extend the game. Tigers guard Scott Greenman went 4-of-4 from the stripe in the closing seconds to protect the lead.
Refusing to lay down, guard Michael Giovacchini '08 hit a free throw followed by a three-pointer to close within one, 50-49.
However, there was just too little time on the clock. Dartmouth was unable to pull out the W as Princeton's Luke Owings extended the Tigers' lead to three with just one second left in the game.
"We put together a good effort and gave ourselves a chance to win," said Giovacchini. "We did have a few miscues spread throughout the game that ended up being the difference from being up two or three at the end to being down two or three at the end."
Lang closed out the game with 13 points while Arnold made his presence felt inside, collecting nine points, four boards and two blocked shots. Flynn also gave a strong defensive effort with seven rebounds.
As a team, Dartmouth was able to outrebound the Tigers, 28-16. This included eight offensive rebounds compared to only one for Princeton.
On Friday, the Penn Quakers put tremendous pressure on the ball and created havoc for Dartmouth ball handlers. Ibrahim Jaaber led all scorers with 21 points and also had five steals, five rebounds and four assists in a great showing. Jaaber's 3.5 steals per game are good for fifth in the nation. He also leads the Ivy League with 17.6 points per game.
The contest started out fairly close as Lang drilled a three-pointer to bring the early tally to 8-9. The Quakers responded immediately, going on an 11-0 run. In a back-and-forth early going, Dartmouth countered with a 9-2 run of its own, creating a lot of second opportunities from offensive rebounds.
Penn pulled away once again, however, and brought the halftime score to 31-23.
Early in the second half, Arnold picked up his fourth foul, forcing him to sit on the bench. With the Ivy League's leading shot blocker out of the game, Penn caught fire, shooting 55.6 percent from the field, including a remarkable 58.3 percent effort from behind the arc.
"It is always tough to play a team like Penn," Giovacchini said. "They are the type of team that capitalizes on every mistake you make and can go on big scoring runs at any time of the game."
Lang led Dartmouth scorers with 13 points. Guard Leon Pattman '07 added nine points and four rebounds off the bench.
Next weekend, Dartmouth will host Yale (13-10, 5-3 Ivy) Friday and Brown (7-14, 3-5 Ivy) on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
