Basketball Season Roundup

Friday, February 8, 2008

By James T. Preston Jr.

Dartmouth’s basketball team has had a mediocre season so far, hovering around .500 since the beginning of play. Dartmouth finished non-Ivy League play 7-7 and is 1-3 in League play so far.

The team opened up their season playing against Air Force in Colorado Springs in the Air Force Classic, and though they held on at the beginning, they started out the season with a 67-38 loss. They went on to win the consolation game of the tournament against VMI 98-87. The following week James Madison University defeated Dartmouth in their home opener 72-57. Rutgers delivered another loss, albeit a close one, as the team fell 50-55. Over these games, forward Alex Barnett ‘09 emerged as the star of the team this year after being an honorable mention All-Ivy pick last year. In the last week of November, Dartmouth picked up narrow back-to-back wins against Colgate and Vermont. Both of the wins came off of late game comebacks and energized the team. The streak of wins came to a quick and unfortunate end when they were destroyed 70-43 by Stony Brook the following week, though they were able to narrowly defeat UC Davis two days later. The squad got a decisive win playing against Division III Daniel Webster College, demolishing them 88-52. Following this heartening victory, Dartmouth went on a loosing streak from mid-December to early January as they fell to Quinnipiac, Army, Siena, and Harvard. Barnett continued to play well alongside captain Johnathan Ball ‘08. Dartmouth preformed well against Army, losing by just three points, but the other losses were more substantial. Although Dartmouth lost decisively to the Crimson in Cambridge, the following week at a rematch in Hanover they broke their losing streak with a crushing 73-56 win. They followed this up with a 65-60 overtime victory over UNH. Dartmouth beat its final non-Ivy opponent resoundingly when it slaughtered the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore 86-62.

Having worked their way back up to .500, Dartmouth headed into this past weekend with high hopes. They proved to be misplaced, however, as they suffered back-to-back defeats to Princeton and Penn. A heartbreaking weekend, it saw Dartmouth lose 57-53 to Princeton in a hard fought game before almost coming from far behind to beat Penn. The game came down to Elgin Fitzgerald ‘10’s shot hanging precariously on the rim as the buzzer sounded, but ultimately it rolled off, leaving the team short, 68-66. The loss was all the more disheartening, as a victory would have broken the 22 game losing streak that Dartmouth basketball currently has against Penn.

Dartmouth currently sits at the bottom of the Ivy League, tied at 1-3 with Columbia, Yale, and Harvard, while Cornell, Penn, and Princeton are thus far undefeated in League play. Looking forward, the boys in green will hope for continued excellence from Barnett, who currently leads the Ivys in points and assists, at 16.9 and 7.1, respectively, and support from others like guard DeVon Mosley ’09, whose 2 steals per game also top the League. This weekend Dartmouth goes on the road to face Brown and Yale; it will host Columbia and Cornell the following weekend. n

Basketball Season Roundup

Article Tools

Related Articles