After a disappointing start to the season, the Dartmouth men's basketball team looked to create some momentum on Saturday as it entered Ivy League season play against 22nd ranked Harvard University. The Big Green (3-13, 0-1 Ivy) hung with the Crimson (13-2, 1-0 Ivy) through much of the contest but a late run gave Harvard a decisive victory, 63-47.
Dartmouth played Harvard close in the first half, ending with the Crimson on top by just one point, 23-22. A quick run to open the second half gave the Big Green its largest lead at 34-27 with 16:20 to play.
"We knew we were going to be playing a tough team, and I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half and much of the second half sticking with them," captain David Rufful '12 said.
Dartmouth was up 36-30 when a 16-2 run by Harvard, sparked by a three-pointer from Harvard senior Oliver McNally and a three-point play from junior Brandyn Curry.
Gabas Maldunas '15 starred for the Big Green, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The rest of the team struggled however, as Maldunas was the only player to reach double digits in scoring, while no Big Green player recorded more than one assist in the game.
McNally had 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting and went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc for the Ivy League favorites. The Crimson, coming off only its second loss of the season to Fordham University on Jan. 3, will likely be knocked out of the AP Top 25 when the new poll is released today, but Harvard rebounded well from its loss to the Rams to defeat the Big Green in their first game of the Ivy season.
The Big Green have had their struggles early in the season, but the players are hopeful that beginning conference play will give them the boost they need to compete for an Ivy championship.
"We treat the Ivy League play as a new season," Rufful said. "Everyone has a clean slate right now and we can really turn the season around even though it hasn't been as successful as we wanted so far. We have a chance to contend for a championship even though we're ranked last and expected not to do well. We have the control not to do that, and I think we're better than a lot of people expect."
If the Big Green are going to turn the season around, it will need to play more consistently in the second halves of games. Dartmouth has had issues playing well for a full 40 minutes for several years, and 2011-12 has been no different, as the Big Green have held leads in several contests this season before losing down the stretch.
"In a lot of games we're up at half time and there are a host of games we've only lost by six or eight points," Rufful said. "A lot of that comes down to leadership and experience at the end of the game. It comes down to people like myself and others who are older who really need to step up and take control."
Despite the loss, the Big Green can be optimistic about the season going forward after hanging with a Top-25 team for most of the game on the road.
"We placed a huge emphasis on this game, and we're not happy about the loss," Rufful said. "But the first half gave us some confidence, and it shows that we have the ability to beat a team like that so our confidence is definitely high."
The team will have a chance to test this claim quickly, this time on Dartmouth's home court, where Harvard will travel in two weeks.
The Big Green will look to get a split in the season series and get on the right track toward a successful Ivy season.
"They pulled away at the end and at this point we have to evaluate the film and come up with a strategy so two weeks from now hopefully we can get a win then and give us a chance to still be able to contest for the Ivy League Championship," Rufful said.
The team hopes that having the home-court advantage in the rematch will result in a different outcome when the two teams meet again on Jan. 21.
"Hopefully we can play hard and get a win next week [against Longwood University on Jan. 14] so we have some momentum going against Harvard two weeks from now," Rufful said. "We really want to split with Harvard, and hopefully those threes don't fall for them when they're here."
