Although Dartmouth posted a 2-12 record in non-conference play this year, the team persevered to become a force in the league.
"I thought that after that nonconference schedule, we could have thrown in the towel, but we did just the opposite, and I have the upmost respect for our guys," Dunn said. "We gave ourselves a chance until the very end."
Co-captain Robbie Pride '10 said that, while the team did not end the way he would have liked, overall, he is happy with the season.
"It was a disappointing finish, but we can't define our season based on one game or two games," he said. "We had a great season, and we showed teams that Dartmouth basketball is here, and that we're a dangerous team now."
Dartmouth would have needed many stars to align this weekend in order to tie for the Ivy League title and force a playoff game: the Big Green had to win against Yale (13-15, 8-6 Ivy) and Brown (9-19, 3-11 Ivy), Cornell (21-9, 11-3 Ivy) had to lose both its games against the University of Pennsylvania (10-17, 6-7 Ivy) and Princeton (12-14, 7-6 Ivy), and Princeton had to lose to Columbia (12-15, 7-7 Ivy) Friday for the Big Green to gain a share of the Ivy championship.
The dream ended quickly Friday night, when the Big Green lost to Yale, 74-62. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, N.Y., the Big Red defeated Penn, 83-58, which, coupled with Princeton's loss to Columbia, clinched the league title for Cornell. The Big Red became the first team to claim a spot in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Dartmouth opened Friday night's game with a 4-2 lead, but the Bulldogs pulled off runs of 10-0 and 13-0 to take a commanding 25-9 lead with 6:48 left in the first half. It was smooth sailing for Yale the rest of the way.
In the first half, the Big Green suffered from poor shooting -- 33 percent from the field -- and 18 turnovers. The first half ended with a score of 32-18.
Both offenses came alive in the second half, with Dartmouth scoring 42 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and sinking seven three-pointers. Yale, however, was also lighting up the scoreboard, also scoring 42 points and shooting an impressive 72 percent from the field.
A three by Dan Biber '09 with 1:37 to go brought Dartmouth within eight, but it was too little too late. Yale went 15 for 18 from the free-throw line, including nine for 10 in the final six minutes, to cement the game.
The Big Green's leading scorer Friday night was Jabari Trotter '12, who posted 13 points. Alex Barnett '09, the Ivy League's leading scorer, was held to 12 points, and shot four for 19 on the night. Biber and Marlon Sanders '09 both had 12 points.
On Saturday, the Big Green played its season finale at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I., where the Brown Bears celebrated Senior Night with a 69-59 victory over Dartmouth.
Barnett scored the first six points of the game for the Big Green, but got into foul trouble early when he picked up his second foul less than five minutes into the game. Barnett sat on the bench for the remainder of the first half.
Brown shot 60 percent from the field in the first half, and opened up a lead that grew to as many as 11 points in the half. Matt Mullery had 12 points and Peter Sullivan scored nine in the first half for the Bears, who took a 37-29 lead to the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, Barnett kept the Big Green in the game, cutting the lead to five on two occasions, but the Bears did not let up. With Brown up 58-53 with 4:48 to play, Sullivan hit two free throws, and Dartmouth never got closer than seven for the rest of the game.
In his final collegiate game, Barnett finished the way he finished so many other games throughout his career, leading all Big Green scorers with 19 points on the night. Also playing his final game was Kurt Graeber '09, who finished the game with five points, four rebounds and three assists.
The loss of Barnett and Graeber leaves a hole for a highly talented freshmen class to step in next season, Pride said.
"Losing those two seniors will obviously be something difficult to replace, but everyone knows we had several great freshmen this year come in ready to play Division I basketball, which isn't normal coming in as freshmen," he said. "But they did a great job for us, and absolutely they're going to be a huge part of our team next year and their roles -- without our two seniors now -- are just going to increase."
Dunn said that he looks forward to seeing the likes of David Rufful '12, Trotter and Josh Riddle '12 step up and play a larger role next year.
"We just have to get in the gym, we have to get some more experience under our belts, and see what happens next season," Dunn said. "Certainly, it's one of the best freshmen groups we've had since I've been here."
