Dartmouth (6-7, 1-0 Ivy) trailed big early. The Big Green went into halftime with the score at 35-23, but the squad stormed back in the second half, outscoring the Crimson (7-8) 41-29 in the closing stanza to tie things up. Dartmouth continued the surge in overtime, pulling away for the victory.
"It was a great team win and a nice way to start conference play. We are really coming together as a team and hope to continue playing good, sound basketball," Johnathan Ball '08 said. "The crowd was also amazing. They are like an extra player on the court. They give us support and energy."
Dartmouth pulled ahead of Harvard with 2:40 left in regulation. Leon Pattman '07 made a layup to put the Big Green ahead 62-61. It was Dartmouth's first lead of the game.
Harvard battled back in regulation. Senior Jim Goffredo knocked down a three with 1:53 left, tying things up and ending the scoring.
The Crimson couldn't keep up in extra time. The Big Green turned red hot from the field in overtime, going six for seven. The Crimson shot only 33 percent in overtime.
On the game, Dartmouth shot 50.8 percent from the field and 56.7 percent in the second half. Harvard never really heated up, shooting only 39 percent on the night, and only 9.1 percent from behind the arc.
"I thought we had a great perseverance and a lot of stick-to-it-tive-ness," coach Terry Dunn said to the Dartmouth athletic department. "We didn't break, and we just kept working and plugging away. Leon had a great offensive night, and we played good defense down the stretch."
Pattman continued his hot streak against Harvard, racking up 27 points. Alex Barnett '09 also had a big game. He scored 19 points, a career-high, and also grabbed 10 rebounds.
"It was a great game. It has been the best game that I've participated in during my two years at Dartmouth," Barnett said.
The win continued a positively torrid streak for the Big Green. The team has won six of its last seven contests. During the stretch, the team has taken down James Madison, Quinnipiac and Army. Vermont is the only team to have sullied the recent stretch, beating the Big Green 73-62.
"We prepared for Harvard in practice very hard and our preparation paid off in the end. Now we have to go out and do it again Friday," Barnett said.
The team next sees action on Friday, when it plays Harvard in Cambridge at 7 p.m.
