Despite suffering a tough loss against Cornell University on Sunday, the Dartmouth men's basketball team pulled off a win in a nail-biter against Columbia University on Friday night, breaking their 24-game road losing streak in Ivy League play. Columbia's final efforts in the last minutes and a couple of missed free throws were not enough to top the Big Green (6-14, 2-4 Ivy), who finished ahead 60-57.
Dartmouth was an offensive threat, hitting 23 out of 45 shots overall, assisted by Connor Boehm '16 with 20 points, and Alex Mitola '16 with 17. Both teams came out of the game strong, with 20 lead changes in the first half alone. At the end of the period Dartmouth finished on top with a three-point lead, 29-26.
"We had a great mindset coming into the game," Gabas Maldunas '15 said. "We focused on rebounding and moving the ball around more."
The team took that momentum with them into the second half, quickly racking up an 11-point lead with Tyler Melville '14 scoring seven and assisting on a layup by John Golden '15 almost five minutes into the second half. The Lions would not be tamed, though, and responded with a 14-2 run of their own featuring three consecutive triples the only three-pointers Columbia (10-10, 2-4 Ivy) would hit all night. Boehm finally put an end to Columbia's spurt with back-to-back 12-foot baseline jumpers to give the Big Green a 46-43 advantage with seven minutes left to play.
"We did a great job of executing the game plan of attacking inside and pushing the tempo," Melville said. "We didn't get rattled."
As the game drew to a close, the atmosphere was tense as Columbia tied the game with a three-point play and free throw before the Lions' senior forward John Daniels gave Columbia a 54-52 lead with a sensational slam dunk with 2:41 left in the game. Dartmouth was not going to let this game slip through their fingers, however. Mitola took control of the ball, sinking a free throw and driving through the lane for a layup to take the lead, then stealing the ball back and nailing a three-pointer to solidify a 58-54 lead with one minute remaining.
"In the second half, our team played with poise and composure," Boehm said. "We hit our free throws, stayed confident under their pressure and rebounded well."
More Columbia free throws in the last minute cut the lead more and more, but with 31.5 seconds to play, Melville hit two key free throws to crush the Lions' hopes of a last-minute victory and boost the Dartmouth lead to three points.
"We really emphasized the fact that we needed to finish the entire game," Melville said. "We were not going to be content with being up in the first half."
Columbia tried twice to get a three-pointer but the shooters were off the mark both times, giving Dartmouth the victory. Columbia went on to beat Harvard, who the Big Green lost to in overtime on Jan. 26, on Sunday, emphasizing the significance of the win.
It was a completely different story in Ithaca on Sunday afternoon when Dartmouth faced Cornell (11-12, 3-3 Ivy). The journey did not start off well when Dartmouth's bus got stuck in the snow and the game had to be moved from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon.
"We just did not show up for the game," Maldunas said. "Having a day off in between games kind of screwed us up."
The Big Green shot just 28.6 percent and struggled to keep up with Cornell the entire game, which ended in a 79-56 loss.
The Big Red set the tone of the game from the outset, starting with a 10-2 lead in the first few minutes featuring two triples. On the fourth Dartmouth turnover in the first six minutes of the game, the Big Red got a fast break layup, marking the first of 18 points Cornell would score on the break.
"Cornell was a tough matchup for us," Boehm said. "They are much more athletic and aggressive on defense than we are used to."
Dartmouth tried to retaliate with a shot by Maldunas and free throws by Jvonte Brooks '15 and Melville, but the Big Green could not stand up to hot-shooting Cornell, who took a swift 29-12 lead with another 10-point run. Shooting at 63 percent during the opening half, it was no surprise that Cornell took a 45-23 lead into the break.
"They deserved to win this game," Melville said.
The Big Green could not manage to get things started offensively in the second half either, letting Cornell's lead waver between 21 and 27 points until the Big Red reached its biggest lead at 8:31 with a score of 64-35. Dartmouth fought back with a 9-1 run started by Melville with a three-point play and ended with another layup by Melville. A Mitola three-pointer and a Melville jumper cut the deficit down to 18, but that would be as close as the Big Green would get in their 79-56 defeat.
Dartmouth did manage to end the game with the edge in rebounding 40-34, however, but 18 Big Green turnovers that led to 24 Big Red points were the nail in the coffin for Dartmouth.
"We need to focus on our defense," Maldunas said. "We played pretty well on the defensive end against Columbia, which led to better offensive possessions, but we could not stop Cornell. It is a lot harder to score when somebody scores on you."
The Big Green returns home next weekend to face Princeton University on Friday and the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. Both games will be played at 7 p.m. in Leede Arena.
