| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
Alex Barnett put Dartmouth on top in a back-and-forth affair with a jumper at the 5:42 mark. Drew Housman couldn’t convert a layup at the other end, but Brad Unger put back his miss to give back the lead to Harvard. Leon Pattman missed from in close, and Jeremy Lin hit a pair of free throws, before Barnett answered with another jumper. Brian Cusworth then scored six straight points on two buckets and two free throws to extend the Crimson’s lead to seven with 1:15 left. When Michael Giovacchini couldn’t find the range from beyond the arc, Dartmouth fouled Unger, who hit both free throws to make it a 72-63 game. Pattman misfired on a jumper, and Unger went 1-for-2 from the stripe to make it a double-digit game with 47 seconds remaining.
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| Key sign it was over |
Down 10 with under a minute left, Dartmouth made a final push, beginning with a Jason Meyer three-pointer at the 42-second mark. Cusworth added two free throws and Meyer couldn’t duplicate his feat the next time down, but Harvard gave back the ball on a turnover with 27 seconds left. Pattman capitalized with a three-pointer, then the Big Green press forced a turnover on the out-of-bounds play. Pattman again took advantage with a layup, cutting the Harvard lead to four with 19 seconds remaining. Jim Goffredo missed his first free throw, but converted the second, and Alex Barnett got a decent look at a three-pointer that would have make it a two-point game, but his shot wouldn’t drop, and by the time Dartmouth fouled Unger, only five seconds remained.
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| Key performance |
Lin’s final line of 12 points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 23 minutes may not look that impressive, but he came up big at a critical point for the Crimson. Dartmouth led by four with under 14 minutes left when Lin grabbed a defensive rebound, got a bucket and foul, missed his free throw, grabbed the offensive board, and put it back for a four-point possession. Two possessions later, the freshman drained a three-pointer, then stole the ball and hit one of two at the line to tie the game at 49. The next trip down, Lin added a jumper for his 10th straight point for Harvard, who now led the game 51-49.
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| Key statistic |
The Crimson made the most of its advantage inside, outscoring Dartmouth 36-16 in the paint and 27-7 at the free throw line.
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| Notes
– Barnett was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points to go with 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and three steals.
– Cusworth didn’t shoot well (5 of 15), but was 10 of 12 at the line and finished with 20 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.
– After watching Pattman go off up in Hanover last week, the Crimson defense did a much better job on the Big Green’s leading scorer, holding him to 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting.
– The game featured nine ties and 12 lead changes.
– Dartmouth came out flat, failing to score until a Meyer jumper 7:07 into the game, as Harvard raced out to a 10-0 lead.
– After splitting their home-and-home series for the third time in four seasons, the two travel partners will host Brown (5-11) and Yale (4-9) next weekend.
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