Crimson Drops Dartmouth Again

On Friday night, the Harvard men’s basketball team escaped the specter of two straight close losses in Hanover, emerging from Leede Arena with a 65-53 victory to sweep the home-and-home series with Dartmouth (2-12, 0-2 Ivy).

After losing by two points in 2004 and three points last year to the Big Green, the Crimson (10-5, 2-0 Ivy) pulled away from Dartmouth late in the first half and maintained a comfortable lead down the stretch. The win gave Harvard its first Ivy road victory of this season after struggling to a 2-5 road mark against league competition last year.

“We’re starting with five of our first six [Ivy games] on the road, so it’s really important that we jump off to a good start,” said senior forward Mike Beal, who had seven points and four rebounds in the win. “For the last two years we’ve won at our place and lost here, and that puts a damper on the season. It’s really great that we got this momentum and hopefully we can push it through exams.”

In getting off to the team’s best start in league play since