The Big Red led by as many as 13 points late in the second half, but Dartmouth refused to let its seniors leave without a fight. Launching an emotional comeback, the Big Green held Cornell scoreless for the next 5:30. With just 2:18 left in the contest, Leon Pattman '07 hit one of two free throws to bring the score to 56-55.
With the crowd chanting "Let's Go Dartmouth" and erupting after every play, the Big Green appeared poised to take control of the contest. Lang had the chance to tie the game at 59 with just 37.3 seconds left in the game. Before every free throw, the crowd hushed to a dead silence. Lang hit one of two and Dartmouth was still down by one.
As Cornell brought the ball down the court, Johnathan Ball '08 took a fall and was called for a controversial blocking foul. However, the crowd and Ball disagreed with the referees, believing he had taken the charge, which would have given the Big Green possession.
Cornell hit its next two free throws, extending the lead to 61-58. With 9.4 seconds left, Alex Barnett '09 drove an open lane and slammed the ball home to bring Dartmouth within one. Forced to foul, Dartmouth put the Big Red on the line and Adam Gore was perfect, lifting the lead to three.
With four seconds remaining and one last chance at the tie, Ball launched a three that clanged off the rim and brought the basketball season to an end.
Lang paced all Dartmouth scorers with 15 points as Pattman finished with 13 and Barnett with 10. Arnold also had a solid night, collecting four boards, three assists and two steals.
Perhaps because of the emotional importance of the game, Dartmouth forced a number of tough shots and turned the ball over frequently in the first half, allowing Cornell to go on a run before halftime. Leading by as much as five during most of the half, Cornell extended its lead to 34-25 during the final minutes of the half.
Dartmouth brought the deficit to within a manageable five points off of a Lang finger roll to make it 34-39. Cornell pulled ahead once again and extended the lead to 13 points over the next few minutes. The deficit proved to be too much for the men in green to surmount.
On Friday evening, Dartmouth led from start to finish in the contest. Pattman put up a game-high 27-point effort that was nearly perfect. His 8-11 from the floor performance was infectious. The Big Green managed to shoot 52.2 percent from the field, holding Columbia to just 39.2 percent shooting.
Dartmouth led 41-31 at the half, but let Columbia crawl to within three with 1:11 remaining in the contest. Pattman went perfect from the line during the final 11 seconds give Dartmouth a final score of 69-62.
Dartmouth also received huge contributions from Arnold, who notched 12 points, four boards, three assists and two steals and Chuck Flynn '08, who recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Dartmouth's men's team ended their season in strong fashion, winning three of their final six games after a disappointing 1-7 start in conference competition. Big Green fans can look forward to next season when Dartmouth will return 13 of the 16 players on its roster and look to build on its late-season improvement.
