Still Perfect: M. Cagers Drop 7th Straight

This time it came down to the last two minutes.

The result was the same, though, as the Harvard men's basketball team suffered its seventh straight setback to begin the season.

The Crimson fell to Dartmouth, 56-53, in its Ivy League opener last night at Briggs Cage.

With 1:52 left in the game center Mike Minor canned a turnaround jumper in the lane, bringing Harvard to within one, 54-53.

The Crimson held the Big Green on the next possession, but forward Ron Mitchell missed a shot with :50 left in the contest. Forward Tyler Rullman fouled Dartmouth's Gregg Frame, putting him at the free-throw line.

Frame missed the first half of a one-and-one, giving Harvard one more chance to take the lead. But on Harvard's next possession, Minor missed a putback in the key, and the Big Green's Michael Lombard was fouled.

Lombard sank both of his free throws, putting Dartmouth up, 56-53, with only 17 seconds to go. Rullman missed a last gasp three-pointer that sealed the game for the Big Green.

"We need to build on the positive things," Coach Frank Sullivan said. "We don't want to take the season all at one time."

Forward Peter Condakes made a surprise start in place of guard James White. He shot only 2-for-7 from the floor, but managed to scrape out eight points.

"I wanted experience on the floor," Sullivan said.

Harvard's downfall this game was poor free-throw shooting. The Crimson shot only 59 percent from the charity stripe, missing 12 attempts.

The other fatal flaw was field goal percentage. Harvard shot an anemic 39 percent from the floor.

"Every free throw, every pass becomes magnified when you're in a rut," Sullivan said.

The Crimson had a monster day on the boards, outrebounding the Big Green 37 to 25. Mitchell paced the game, pulling down 10 off the glass.

Rullman led the game with 18 points on 50 percent shooting. He was 0-for-2 from the three-point line, which constituted Harvard's entire three-point attack.

The Crimson did improve on turnovers and defense, usually the two things that plague them.

Harvard turned the ball over a season-low 13 times. It held Dartmouth to 45 percent shooting from the field.

What the Big Green did do right is shoot treys. Dartmouth sank nine three-pointers on 18 attempts.

The Crimson stifled the Big Green's leading scorer and rebounder, guard Gregg Frame. Going into last night's game, Frame was averaging 14 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. But Harvard held Frame to a paltry two points and one board.

The Big Green's leading scorers were John Conley and Mike Crotty, who poured in 11 each. Dartmouth's leading rebounder was Jamie Halligan with seven.

Minor had an impressive game, tallying 10 and wiping the glass for seven rebounds.

A new addition to the Crimson roster is point guard Daniel Morris, called up from the junior varsity squad. Morris played seven minutes.