The Dartmouth men's basketball team fought valiantly against two tough Ivy League opponents this weekend but ultimately fell to both Brown University, 66-59, and Yale University, 62-52. The Big Green (4-16, 0-4 Ivy) came out strong on Friday night against the Bears (7-14, 1-3 Ivy), but standout performances from both Jvonte Brooks '15 and Tyler Melville '14 were not enough to secure the win. Brown staged a late rally, keyed by the play of sophomore guard Sean McGonagill, who added 11 points in the final four minutes of the game.
After leading for the majority of the first half, the Big Green looked solid as it went into the second half of the game against the Bears. Brooks said that the Big Green's defensive plan was to take out Brown's big scorers.
"We wanted to attack the two pretty good big men," Brooks said. "That was a matchup we controlled."
At one point in the second half, Dartmouth led by eight points. With 12:44 to play in the game, R.J. Griffin '13 sunk a three-pointer and then made two free throws after he was fouled on a fast break fueled by a steal by Gabas Maldunas '15.
The pace of the game slowed considerably following Griffin's fast break. Dartmouth struggled to knock down shots as Brown slowly hammered away at the deficit. The Bears' Andrew McCarthy scored nine straight points over a five-minute stretch to put Brown up by a point, 52-51, with 5:07 to go.
Jabari Trotter '12 answered back with a clean 16-footer to give Dartmouth the lead once again. However, a series of excellent shots by Brown turned the tables. With three minutes left, McGonagill sank a three-pointer. The Bears then capitalized on a turnover by the Big Green with another three by Stephen Albrecht. To finish it off, McGonagill sank each of his last six free throws to give the bears a six-point victory.
Maldunas said that the team plans to work on reacting to opponents that rally at the end of the game.
"We have to practice like we play in games," Maldunas said. "In order to win, we have to prepare for the next challenge and be ready to respond to teams on the court."
The Big Green had a similar game against the formidable Bulldogs, who now hold a record of 13-5 overall and 3-1 in the Ivy League. Although Melville had another standout performance with a season-high 14 points, Dartmouth struggled offensively against Yale's tough defense.
Brooks said Melville has stepped up to the plate by contributing offensively from the point guard position, a spot which often has fewer scoring opportunities.
"It's been nice to get those extra points from a place we don't usually get it," Brooks said.
The Bulldogs probably felt more like sad puppies after they suffered a 30-point loss to Harvard University on Friday night, but their poor performance certainly did not carry over to Saturday's contest against the Big Green, as Yale shot 6-for-13 from three-point range to pull away for a 62-52 victory.
Free throws proved to be the key in this contest, as Dartmouth's 23 fouls allowed Yale to go into the bonus fairly quickly, resulting in ample opportunities at the free throw line for the Bulldogs.
"We got into foul trouble early in the game, so we actually couldn't play as aggressive as we wanted to," Brooks said.
Yale went 16-for-24 from the line, while Dartmouth shot 6-for-9.
The Big Green led for much of the first half, and a John Golden '15 layup gave Dartmouth a 47-46 lead with seven minutes to play. However, the Bulldogs soon went into attack mode, using a 13-2 run to cement a 10-point victory. Six of the 10 points came from free throws, a decisive factor in Yale's victory.
As Dartmouth prepares to face Columbia University and Cornell University this coming weekend, the Big Green plans to focus on its offense.
"Coach [Paul] Cormier is good with game-planning," Brooks said. "He knows what we should do to take out the other players."
As for the Big Green's stagnant offense in the second half, Maldunas said it is a matter of experience.
"We just need to learn how to close out games," Maldunas said.
Brooks added that the young team needs to work on responding well.
"When it comes down to when the other team starts getting on the run, we have to weather the storm and come back," he said.
Dartmouth takes on the Lions at Leede Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday and the Big Red at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
