"It was good to finally get one," captain Robby Pride '10 said. "We've been so close so many times. This was an ugly win, but we'll take it any way we can get it right now."
The key to victory for Dartmouth was its ability to shut down Columbia's (9-15, 3-7 Ivy) top scoring threats guards Noruwa Agho and Niko Scott. Agho entered the game ranked third in the Ancient Eight in scoring, averaging 17.0 points per game. Scott was coming off a 29-point performance at the University of Pennsylvania, but Dartmouth held both players to a combined 14 points and just 20 percent shooting.
"We game-planned for [Agho] and Scott," Ronnie Dixon '11 said. "They really hurt us last time when we played down at Columbia. We wanted to keep the ball out of their hands as much as possible and make the rest of the team beat us."
Dartmouth led wire-to-wire and shut out the Lions for the first 9:31 of the game. Dartmouth held a 17-15 lead heading into the break.
Halftime leads have been important for the Big Green this season, as the team is 5-2 when leading at the half but 0-17 when tied or behind.
The second half was close and hard-fought, and Dartmouth's lead never grew to more than eight. The Big Green led 44-42 with 3:04 to play when Matt LaBove '13 drove to the basket and was whistled for an offensive foul his fifth of the night forcing him to sit out the remainder of the game.
On the ensuing possession, Columbia forward Brian Grimes pump-faked two Dartmouth defenders into the air and hit a short jumper, tying the game at 44 and setting the stage for a crucial final three minutes.
Clive Weeden '11 was fouled and hit two crucial free throws to make it 46-44 in favor of the Big Green with 2:26 remaining.
There were several instances when it looked as though Columbia could have seized momentum during the second half, but the Big Green was always able to answer on the offensive end. This was the key difference in the game in most of its losses, the team has been unable to respond when its opponents step up the pressure in the second half.
Though Dartmouth fell 88-70 to Cornell (23-4, 9-1 Ivy) on Saturday, the game held some bright spots for the Big Green.
Dartmouth's 70 points were the most it scored all year against a Division I opponent and nearly doubled the season-low 37 points the Big Green scored against the Big Red earlier in the year.
Dixon also tallied a career-high 20 points on 8-13 shooting. Dartmouth even managed to outscore the Big Red in the second half, 49-44. By that time, however, Cornell had taken its foot off the accelerator the game was decided early after the Big Red took a commanding 44-21 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Dartmouth suffered communication breakdowns on the perimeter and was unable to rotate effectively, often leaving a man open outside. Cornell moved the ball effectively to find the open man and was able to knock down its shots, shooting 57.1 percent from the field.
Head coach Mark Graupe admitted that the Big Green got away from its game plan of limiting possessions, which contributed to the high point total.
"I think we panicked a little bit," Graupe said. "We had to make it a grind, and it didn't happen."
Dartmouth remains in the Ivy League cellar with a 1-9 conference record, two games behind Columbia. Cornell leads the standings with a 9-1 record in Ivy League play and appears on track to earn its third consecutive bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Big Green will face Yale University (10-17, 4-6 Ivy) on Friday followed by Brown University (10-17, 4-6 Ivy) on Saturday. Both tipoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m. at Leede Arena.
