With less than five minutes left on the clock, Ronnie Dixon '11 stole the ball at midcourt and banked an uncontested shot to give Dartmouth (2-11, 0-1 Ivy) a 57-53 advantage.
After claiming the lead, however, the Big Green allowed Harvard (9-6, 1-0 Ivy) to answer back with six straight points, all from senior guard,Andrew Pusar. With two minutes on the clock, Dartmouth reclaimed a 60-59 lead with two points plus one from David Rufful '12.
Harvard resurfaced on top with the Crimson's Oliver McNally's jumper, only to fall back with a floater from Alex Barnett '09, allowing Dartmouth to once again retain a one-point lead.
Harvard ran the clock down, and with 9.1 seconds left in the game, McNally scored for two, putting Harvard back on top.
Dartmouth's last offensive drive placed the ball into Barnett's hands, but he was unable to score on his drive forward and was not fouled, although many Big Green fans seemed to disagree.
Head coach Terry Dunn said that getting Barnett the ball was the best option for the Big Green."When the clock is running down, you want the ball in his hands," he said. "I thought he got fouled, yeah, I certainly did. But what are you going to do?"
Rufful said the Big Green squad has changed a lot as a team this season.
"We have a lot more intensity, a lot more emotion," he said.
The Big Green came out strong early, shooting the first three shots of the first half, which granted the squad an early 7-2 lead after two minutes of play.
Harvard was fresh off a stirring 82-70 victory against No. 17 Boston College on Wednesday. BC previously defeated then number-one ranked and unbeaten University of North Carolina 85-78 last week.
The Crimson team responded to the Big Green's initial surge by capitalizing on its consistency at the free throw line, where it was 14-for-16 during the first half. This not only disrupted Dartmouth's focused rhythm, but also transformed the contest into a back-and-forth affair.
At the intermission, the teams were tied 34-34.
Jeremy Lin's command in Harvard's win over Boston College attracted the attention of Dartmouth's defensive game plan. The team focused on containing the Crimson guard and his ability to move the ball. Lin scored 27 points against Boston College.
While the Big Green's defensive pressure limited Lin's overall game, the overplay on him allowed other Crimson players, such as McNally and Pusar, to move without the ball and deliver when an opportunity arose.
Rufful said that he feels very comfortable playing on the defensive end because he feels success there comes more from hard work than raw talent.
"I'm willing to do all the hard work. Shooting and ball-handling, that takes some skill," he said. "But defense is all about hard work. We're trying to make that a staple of our game."
Rufful's game extended to both ends of the court as he brought in nine points, five assists, five steals and two rebounds.
Dan Biber '09 led Dartmouth's offensive attack with 10 points. Barnett's eight rebounds, six assists and one steal offset his season-low nine-point game.
Barnett is averaging 18.5 points per game this year.
Dartmouth also managed to climb out of the shooting rut it had been in for the past three games, shooting 50 percent from the field.
"Different people kept stepping up and everyone kept taking shots," Barnett said. "I think we played well. We had a good week of practice, and it showed up in the game. It just didn't show up on the scoreboard."
"The only thing we didn't do was win," Dunn said.
The Big Green squad will attempt to break its six-game losing streak when it squares off against Stony Brook University (8-7, 1-2 America East) in a non-conference match at 7:00 p.m. this Tuesday at Leede Arena.
set his nine-point game.
Dartmouth also managed to climb out of the shooting rut it had been in for the past three games, shooting at 50 percent.
"Different people kept stepping up and everyone kept taking shots," Barnett said. "I think we played well. We had a good week of practice, and it showed up in the game. It just didn't show up on the scoreboard."
"The only thing we didn't do was win," Dunn said.
The Big Green squad will attempt to break its six-game losing streak as it squares off against Stony Brook University (8-7, 1-2 America East) in a non-conference match this Tuesday at Leede Arena.
