Crimson Survives in Ivy Road Opener

HANOVER, N.H.—In the Ivy League season, nothing is guaranteed—especially the second time around. Despite having dominated Dartmouth just two weeks ago back home, the Harvard men’s basketball team found itself struggling to repeat that performance Saturday night at Leede Arena in front of 1,555 fans.

Coming off a nail-biting win over St. Francis, the Big Green was looking to avenge a 74-57 drubbing at the hands of the Crimson—which hadn’t played a game since the squads’ last matchup.

Add in a cold shooting night for Harvard, and the time seemed right for Dartmouth to take advantage.

But Crimson freshman Kyle Casey scored 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds, and co-captain Jeremy Lin chipped in 19 points and six assists to help Harvard (13-3, 2-0 Ivy) slip by Dartmouth, 62-58.

The Big Green (4-12, 0-2) was led by guard Ronnie Dixon’s season-high 15 points.

Dartmouth basketball has found itself in the headlines recently due to a head-coaching change, as well as the drug-related arrest of a player last week, but the squad was anything but distracted in its league home opener.

The Big Green’s energetic play surprised the Crimson with a 13-0 spurt in the game’s early going.

“They play with a lot of heart, considering the stuff that’s been going on with their team,” sophomore center Keith Wright said.

While Dartmouth played well, Harvard’s field goal attempts—whether they were wide-open threes or lay-ins up close—simply weren’t falling.

“Usually a lot of the shots that we were taking go in,” Casey said. “Our shots were in rhythm for the most part...shots weren’t falling today, so [we’ve] just got to go back and fine-tune some things.”

After missing all but one of its first 10 shots, Harvard settled down and slowly clawed its way back, tying the game at 22 when freshman guard Brandyn Curry whipped a quick pass to Wright for an easy lay-in.

The Crimson would close out the half’s remaining 3:30 on a mini-run, and Casey’s buzzer-beating three-pointer sent his team into the locker room with a 31-27 lead.

“I was really complimentary of our guys for getting us back in the game in the first half,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “I thought we made a tremendous effort to make it close.”

Dartmouth responded with increased defensive intensity in the second frame. Capitalizing on the game’s slower pace—each team only picked up four fast-break points—the Big Green took a one-point advantage with 15:12 to play on a three-point play by guard Robby Pride.

But the lead would be short-lived.

When his team fell behind, Lin stepped up. Finding little success from long range, the star guard drove to the basket and drew opportunities at the foul line.

His playmaking ability helped to spark a 15-1 Harvard run, which helped extend the team’s lead to 13 with just under seven minutes to play.

But the Crimson could not put the game out of reach, as missed free throws down the stretch would allow Dartmouth the chance to attempt a comeback.

As a team, Harvard shot only 39 percent from the field, and the situation was no better at the free throw line, where the Crimson shot an uncharacteristically poor 14-of-26.

Freshmen Christian Webster and Dee Giger continued to have difficulty finding their strokes. The guards missed all eight of their combined three-point attempts, and Webster made only two of his 12 tries from the floor.

“They’re freshmen, and I think sometimes they need to see the ball go in the basket before they can get a little more confidence,” Amaker said of his rookies’ first conference road game. “Sometimes being away from home, it’s a much tougher situation than they would probably expect.”

With its shooters having an off night, the Crimson turned to its big men for baskets—primarily Casey and Wright, who finished with 13 points (6-of-9 from the field) and eight rebounds.

Fellow post player and co-captain Doug Miller had a strong workmanlike performance, picking up seven boards—including five offensive rebounds—in only 15 minutes.

A scary moment came early in the second half, when forward Pat Magnarelli leapt for an offensive rebound and fell hard to the floor. The senior had to be helped off the court by two teammates.

Following the game, Magnarelli called the injury a high ankle sprain and said he would receive an X-ray yesterday.

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu