Triumphant at Last: M. Cagers Down Dartmouth for First Victory, 41-35

HANOVER, N.H.--It wasn't a pretty game, but it was a gutsy one. And after point guard Jared Leake canned two free throws with :12 remaining to ice the victory, the Harvard men's basketball team stood tall with its first win of the season, a 41-35 triumph over Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday.

"It feels real good," senior Mike Minor said. "This is one of the best feeling wins we've had since I've been here."

"I think everybody's more relieved than happy," Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said.

Captain Ron Mitchell scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the victory. Tyler Rullman added 13 points and seven boards.

Defensive intensity won this game for the Crimson. Harvard held the Big Green scoreless for the first 4:38, and allowed just 11 points in the first half.

"We came out ready to play," Mitchell said. "We were trapping pretty well, and getting the rotations.

"Defenses need a rhythm, too. You have to know when to step up, when to gamble, when to trap. A lot of the traps we put on were not called, we just saw them at the right moment, and we stepped up and harassed them," Mitchell said.

The Crimson forced 26 Dartmouth turnovers, with Big Green guards Gregg Frame, Mike Crotty and John Conley combining for 17 of them. Dartmouth shot just 38 percent from the floor.

Sophomore Jabbar Abdi had his finest game of the year, coming off the bench to shut down Big Green star center Michael Lombard.

Lombard, the focus of the Dartmouth game plan offensively and defensively, had just seven points and one rebound on the night after a quick start.

"They kept lobbing the ball to [Lombard] and he was getting easy buckets," Abdi said. "I came over from the weak side and helped out any way I could."

"I thought that Jabbar did a real good job off the bench defensively," Sullivan said.

It's defense like that which carries teams through sluggish nights offensively.

And last night was one of those nights. The Crimson had a terrible time on offense. At one point, Harvard's team foul total equaled the team's point total, with both at six with 9:24 left in the first half.

"I thought it was a pretty ugly game, and I don't think anyone would disagree with me," Sullivan said.

While Dartmouth was struggling to break into the ten-point barrier, Harvard was having problems of its own. The Crimson did not score its tenth point until 8:03 left in the first half, when Mitchell buried a 19-footer from the wing.

Dartmouth nearly turned the game into a nightmare for the Crimson, as the Big Green ate away a ten point deficit in the second half to take a 35-34 with 1:55 remaining after Crotty hit one of two free throws.

The run was keyed by clutch three-point baskets by Conley and Frame, who were continually left alone on the right wing.

But after Conley's second bomb, which tied the score at 34, the Crimson stepped up the pressure.

Mitchell tied the game at 35 with a free throw, and then Leake made perhaps the play of the game when he harassed Crotty into committing a ten-second violation bringing the ball upcourt.

Mitchell was quickly fouled with 1:06 to play, but the captain drained both ends of a 1-and-1. Then, the defense took over. The best shot Dartmouth could manage on its next possession was an off-balance 17-foot heave by Conley which missed everything.

Leake got the rebound and was fouled. He hit one of two to give the Crimson a 38-35 lead. Conley missed two free throws with :15 to play before Leake finished off the victory.

While Harvard's overall record is 1-11, the Crimson is 1-1 in the Ivy League and in a tie for first place with Dartmouth.

"That's the most important thing, really," Sullivan said. "First, a win, second, a win in the Ivy League, and third, a win on the road in the Ivy League."