Dartmouth (8-10, 1-3 Ivy) had leads in both games before falling 57-53 at Princeton (5-12, 2-0 Ivy) on Friday and 68-66 at Penn (7-12, 2-0 Ivy) on Saturday.
Saturday's loss marks the 22nd consecutive game that the Big Green has lost to the Quakers.
"They were both games we had a chance to win and just didn't close them at the end," co-captain Johnathan Ball '08 said.
At Princeton, the Tigers and Big Green traded baskets for most of the game. As soon as Princeton started to build a cushion in the last few minutes of the game, Dartmouth again rallied to within three points on two free throws from Marlon Sanders '09 with 30 seconds to play. The Tigers held on to hold home court, boosted by the efforts of sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn and senior forward Noah Savage, who combined to score 32 points.
Alex Barnett '09 led all players with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the contest.
On Saturday, the Big Green found itself down big against Penn midway through the first half. But losing 60-48 with under 10 minutes to play, Dartmouth rallied on the heels of co-captain Michael Giovacchini '08, who finished with 12 points. A furious 16-3 run, capped by a pair of free throws by Barnett, put the Big Green ahead 64-63, but the Quakers fought back and after a series of free throws found themselves ahead 68-66 with just seconds to play.
As time expired, the Big Green had one last chance to tie, but a six-foot jumper from Elgin Fitzgerald '10 rolled around the rim twice before falling out at the buzzer.
"It was nerve-wrecking," Ball said. "The ball was on the edge of the rim for about three seconds. I thought it was going in but it just stayed up. The ball just didn't go in."
Barnett once again led all scorers with 18 points, also registering a team-high six rebounds. DeVon Mosley '09 added nine more points for Dartmouth.
Freshman Jack Eggleston paced Penn with a career-high 16 points, dominating the box score with six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
Though the Big Green's heart and resiliency on the court almost compensated for the team's shortcomings, Dartmouth was statistically outplayed by the Quakers. The team shot just 40.7 percent compared to the Quaker's 47.3 percent, it was outrebounded by Penn 39-27 and it had more turnovers than assists by a 13-11 margin.
The two losses put the Big Green in a a hole in the Ivy League standings. At 1-3 in conference play, Dartmouth needs to sneak away with a win in one of its next two games at Brown (10-8, 2-2 Ivy) and Yale (7-11, 1-3 Ivy) if it is to have any chance of catching up to league-leader Cornell (12-5, 4-0 Ivy).
The fact that the Big Green played both games on the road keeps hope alive for Dartmouth, as road wins have been hard to come by in the Ancient Eight this season. With so much parity in the league, home court has oftentimes been the deciding factor between victory and defeat. In Ancient Eight play thus far, road teams are just 4-10 (.285). All teams other than Cornell are just 1-10 (.091) on the road so far.
"On the road you have to go a little bit higher, a little bit further, and we didn't get that extra bit," Ball explained.
As a result of the Big Green's 0-5 road record, holding home-court will be a key component to the team's success this season. When Dartmouth returns home on Feb. 15, it will still have a shot at the Ivy League championship if it can win all of its home games and steal a win or two in its last three conference road games.
"One weekend isn't going to turn the whole shape of the Ivy League around," Ball said. "Nobody can predict where teams will be on the last weekend."
The Big Green continues Ancient Eight play with a visit to Brown on Feb. 8 followed by a trip to Yale on Feb. 9.
