The Dartmouth men's basketball team hosted Columbia University and Cornell University this weekend, closing out its home schedule with two important wins. After losing its first four league games, Dartmouth's Ivy League record stands at 5-7, good enough for a third place tie with Brown University, Yale University and Harvard University. Dartmouth's overall record, at one point this season a dismal 1-12, stands at 9-15.
The Big Green will finish up the season next weekend, on the road against Brown and Yale. Dartmouth has already defeated both the Bears and the Bulldogs this season. Finishing the season with a 7-7 league record would guarantee Dartmouth at least a tie for third place, and would be quite an achievement for a team that struggled through a 10-game losing streak early on.
"That's been our goal for the last six games,"Jamie Halligan '95 said. "Everyone is really motivated."
Dartmouth 64 Columbia 52
Saturday night, originally scheduled as the last home game of the season, was senior night at Leede Arena. Seniors Jeff Richards, Wilfredo Castillo, Stan Kowalewski and captain Gregg Frame were honored in a pregame ceremony. The four players also started for Dartmouth, a role that Richards and Castillo are not very accustomed to.
"It's an emotional night for the team," Coach Dave Faucher explained after the game. "We're all very emotional, yet we've got to come out and play."
That might explain why the Big Green came out shaky against a struggling Columbia team that Dartmouth had already beaten once this season, 80-65, in New York. After charging out to a 4-0 record in the Ivy League, the Lions have now lost eight straight games. With senior guard Ty Buckelew out for the season, and key players C.J. Thompkins and J.J. Waterer also plagued by injuries, Columbia seems to by trapped in a free-falling elevator; they are on their way from first to worst.
In any case, Dartmouth struggled through the first half, and led only 29-23 at halftime despite holding the Lions to 28 percent shooting. The Big Green's 11 turnovers did not help their cause, and neither did their own shooting woes, 41 percent for the half. Only Sea Lonergan '97 (12 points in the half) and an 8-1 run towards the end of the half kept Dartmouth in the hunt.
The second half was a different story, in which Dartmouth picked up the intensity and worked much harder. Columbia's Jamal Adams scored the first points of the final frame with a lay-in off a backdoor pass, but the Big Green then went on a 17-4 run over the next six minutes, breaking the game open and taking a 46-29 lead. Lonergan had six points on the run, Frame and Brian Gilpin '97 each had four.
"It was tought to get in a rhythm," Faucher said. "We were out of sorts for awhile, but I was pleased with the second half."
"Once we settled down we really played well," he said.
After scoring just one point in the first half, Gilpin was much more involved in the second half, with nine points. Gilpin, at 6' 11'', was being guarded most of the night by Boris Piskun and Steve Marusich, who each stand at 6' 7''. Dartmouth never really got its offense together in the first, but in the second half Gilpin got the ball more in the post and was able to make use of his height advantage.
The Big Green's biggest lead was 19 points, but Columbia fought back in the final minutes to make the final score more respectable. Adams finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for Columbia, while Piskun had 15 points in 19 minutes.
Lonergan had another outstanding game, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in only 24 minutes played. Despite struggling with eleven turnovers, Frame still managed to score 13 points and dish out ten assists. Jamie Halligan '95 had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Gilpin had 10 points as well.
Dartmouth 72 Cornell 69
It was a game of streaks yesterday afternoon at Leede Arena, as the Big Green held on to beat Cornell behind a 28 point effort by Frame, playing in his last home game at Dartmouth. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but was changed due to travel problems for Cornell.
After taking a ten point lead with 12:47 to play in the second half, The Big Green let the Big Red right back into the game. When Cornell's Frank Ableson hit a three pointer with 3:05 to play, the game was tied at 67. But after having missed two foul shots about a minute and a half earlier, Lonergan hit nothing but net twice from the line with 1:05 to play making it 69-67 Dartmouth.
Cornell's Jeremy Flagel missed a turn-around jumper on the baseline that would have tied the game with :17 left on the clock, and Halligan hit a free throw to put Dartmouth up by three, 70-67. Cornell had one more opportunity and could have tied the game with a three pointer, but Zeke Marshall threw the ball away with five seconds left trying to start play.
"It was a nice way to end things," Frame said after the game. And, talking about the pressure-packed final minutes, he explained: "We don't really get nervous, because we're not supposed to win many games."
Cornell came out strong in the first half, using good defense and timely three pointers to keep the Big Green at bay. The Big Red were ahead 25-17 midway through the half, but Dartmouth responded and tied the game with an 8-0 run keyed by Kenny Mitchell's '97 three pointer, and one by Halligan. Cornell came right back with eight straight points of their own, and led 33-25 with 3:19 left in the half. But with Castillo in the game playing his trademark pressure defense, the pendulum swung back to Dartmouth, and the Big Green scored the final eight of the half, tying the game at 35.
In the second half, Dartmouth burst out to its ten point lead behind an incredible three and half minutes by Frame. He had ten points in the span on running and leaning bank shots, pushing Dartmouth to its 57-47 lead.
"Gregg had a zone there for eight or ten minutes when he was phenomenal," Faucher said.
Marshall then led the comeback for Cornell. He finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds. Justin Treadwell had 16 points and ten rebounds, while Brandt Schuckman had ten points, and Brian Kopf had nine for the Big Red.
"They're one of the better teams talent wise in the league," Faucher said.
After Frame's 28 (one short of his career high), Darmouth was led by Halligan's 23 points and 10 rebounds. After shooting poorly in the first half, Halligan had two big three pointers in the second. He was also 9-10 from the foul line.
"Coach just told me to keep shooting," he said.
Lonergan had eight points, and Gilpin had six, with each struggling a bit after great performances on Saturday night. Mitchell had only five points, but according to Faucher was one of the keys.
"He picked us up when we needed it most," Faucher said.
