M. hoops drops two more road Ivy contests

Throughout the Ivy League season, the men's basketball team (11-4 overall, 2-9 Ivy League) has shown it can compete with anyone in the league — for part of the game. This weekend's losses to fellow conference bottom dwellers Dartmouth (9-15, 4-7) and Harvard (11-15, 4-8) only confirmed that Princeton cannot play two halves of solid basketball.

"We really need to work on putting together a good game, all 40 minutes," freshman guard Lincoln Gunn said. "We can put together spurts, but we just haven't been able to put together a full game yet."

The Tigers hit the road for their last trip of the season, first facing off with the Big Green in Hanover, N.H., in an attempt to redeem the one-point loss they suffered against Dartmouth at home on Feb. 10. Princeton came up short, ultimately losing 53-43. The Orange and Black then traveled to Cambridge, Mass., where they faced off against a Harvard team whom the Tigers needed overtime to defeat earlier in the season. It was senior night for the Crimson, however, and Harvard did not disappoint, surging past Princeton in the second half for a 50-43 win.

Against Dartmouth, after being down 26-21 at halftime and falling behind even further in the beginning of the second half, the Tigers rallied for a 16-4 run in which they took a slim 41-40 lead with six minutes and 17 seconds remaining in regulation. Senior forward Luke Owings, who came off the bench, was the primary catalyst for Princeton's surge, as he scored 10 points in the run and contributed 15 overall.

The Big Green did not take long to respond as they quickly reestablished the lead on a 13-2 run to finish off the Tigers, 53-43.

Throughout the game Princeton seemed to have a hard time controlling the Dartmouth players, who were led by forward Johnathon Ball and guard Leon Pattman, both of whom finished with 14 points.

"The hardest thing for us was really just the speed of their guards and their team," Gunn said. "Their offense didn't really beat us. It was just staying with their players. I think that we had a hard time matching up as well, and that kind of hurt us."

After the Big Green assembled a 19-8 lead in the first half. The Tigersin what is becoming something of a trademark this season, went on a run to cut the gap to five at halftime.

"I think it was our overall offense that went really stagnant. I don't think we came out really ready to play that first 10 minutes," Gunn said. "We fell into a hole, and it was hard for us to get out."

The loss, which was the Tigers' second against Dartmouth this year, makes 2007 the first time since 1946 that the Big Green swept Princeton in the annual two-game series.

Going into the Harvard contest, the Tigers were determined not to play their classic game of fall behind and catch up, and in the beginning, they were quite successful.

Princeton's defense was absolutely stifling for the first half, as the Orange and Black didn't allow a single Crimson field goal for 18 minutes, 24 seconds. Largely buoyed by free throws, however, the Crimson successfully controlled the damage caused by their 15 straight misses. The Tiger offense was not overly dangerous either, so Princeton went into halftime with a relatively small 21-12 lead.

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Following a much better beginning to the game than they had experienced the night before, the Tigers seemed poised to topple Harvard for the second time this season and claim their first conference road win.

It was not meant to be, however, as the Crimson emerged from the locker room a seemingly new team.

"I think in the second half they came out a lot more aggressive, and we came out almost lackadaisical," Gunn said. "It wasn't like the first half at all."

Guard Drew Housman was behind the second half onslaught, as he scored 17 of his 20 total points after the break. The Crimson outscored Princeton 38-22 in the second half to easily make up for their first-half deficit and overcome the Tigers 50-43.

In contrast to the Dartmouth game, the Tigers couldn't string together a single effective run as they struggled to maintain their lead.

"No one really stepped up in the Harvard game as a goto guy," Gunn said. "They came out and got their confidence back, and we went stagnant again."

The Tigers were led by freshman guard Marcus Schroeder, who turned in 10 points, while senior forward Justin Conway had nine points and eight rebounds.

While an Ivy road win is now unachievable, the Tigers will return home for their last three games of the season and their final chances to play a solid 40 minutes of basketball.