On Saturday, the Big Green lost in a double-overtime thriller at Cornell, 79-76. With the win, the Big Red improved to 17-7 (7-1 Ivy) and completed a weekend sweep that put it atop the Ivy League. Cornell also improved its perfect record at home to 11-0.
Alex Barnett '09 led the Big Green with a game-high 22 points. Ronnie Dixon '11 added 14, and David Rufful '12 continued his successful play with 12 points.
Dartmouth trailed by as many as 17 points, but a strong second-half effort sent the game into overtime.
"I couldn't be prouder of the team," co-captain Robbie Pride '10 said. "We're a very good team, and we showed it. We pushed the number-one team in the league to double-overtime at their house. They were definitely the best team we've played in the league yet."
The first extra period was plagued with fouls -- half of the points scored came from the charity stripe. The teams went even, with both teams looking to defend rather than attack. A dunk by Cornell guard Geoff Reeves with 39 seconds left looked like it would give Cornell the win, but a jumper by Rufful with two ticks remaining sent the game into another overtime.
The second overtime was much like the first, with lots of fouls and few field goals. A layup gave the Big Red a two-possession lead with a minute remaining.
The Big Green could not respond, as Barnett and Dan Biber '09 both missed long-range efforts. The game was put out of reach as Cornell hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining. Jabari Trotter '12 padded his stats with a three at the buzzer, to make the score 79-76.
"We didn't make our shots in the end," Pride said. "They were getting a lot of foul calls, though, when we thought we played good defense. I'm not going to blame the refs, but [Cornell] got a lot of calls."
Poor free throw shooting by Dartmouth proved to be the difference in the end. The Big Red shot 27-33 from the line, while Dartmouth could only hit 16 of 26.
The Big Green came into the game sluggish, perhaps affected by the long night of travel across the state from New York City to Ithaca. The Big Red used this advantage and took an 11-point lead into halftime. Cornell carried its good form into the second half, building up a 17-point lead five minutes in. Dartmouth was eventually able to play well enough to get back into the game and send the contest to overtime.
"It absolutely affected us," Pride said. "We got into the hotel at 2:30 in the morning. Once we shook it off though, we played well."
On Friday, the Big Green fell 52-65 at Columbia. With the win, the Lions improved to 9-12 (4-3 Ivy). Barnett led the Big Green with a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds. Rufful and Pride added 10 points each.
Dartmouth played well throughout the first half. A 9-3 run saw the Big Green jump to an eight-point lead with five minutes remaining. Columbia responded, however, with a 13-3 run, including a three-pointer with one second remaining by sophomore guard K.J. Matsui that gave the Lions a 29-27 lead going into the break.
"I think it's the same problem we've had all year," Pride said. "We'll grab a lead, but we won't push it to 15, 20 points. It's a bit frustrating."
Columbia came out of the break just as hot as they ended the first half, scoring 11 points before Barnett hit a jumper to open the scoring for Dartmouth. Another seven-straight points gave the Lions the biggest lead of the night at 17 points.
"[Columbia] took us out of our game plan," Pride said. "They played really good 'D' throughout the game, and it ended up frustrating us."
The Big Green made the game competitive again with an 11-0 run, cutting Columbia's lead to two possessions with 10 minutes remaining. Dartmouth, however, could not get any closer, and another long-range effort from Matsui put the game out of reach at 55-44 with six minutes remaining.
"I think this team thinks that we can come back from any deficit," Pride said. "On Friday, though, we were out of rhythm and just didn't play well down the stretch."
Dartmouth shot well from the field and did not turn the ball over often. The Big Green was vastly outplayed in the paint, however, where Columbia scored 32 points. The Big Green also allowed the Lions 14 second-chance points.
The losses put Dartmouth in an unenviable position in the league. At 4-4 and in fourth place, the Big Green will look to win its remaining games to have a shot at the Ivy League crown.
"We have to win out," Pride said. "We want to control our fate."
Dartmouth will look to get back on track this weekend, as the team travels to the University of Pennsylvania on Friday and Princeton on Saturday. Both games are slated to start at 7 p.m.
