Big Green struggling at season's midpoint

After gaining a 56-47 lead with 13:23 left against Hartford last Friday, Dartmouth suddenly collapsed.

The Hawks mounted a 22-2 run, outscoring the Big Green 31-12 in the last 11 minutes to secure a win, 78-68. The story of Friday's second-half debacle typifies Dartmouth's first 16 games of the season.

"Obviously it's been disappointing," Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher said. "We got off to a tough start, losing a lot of close games."

With expectations of entering the Ivy League's top division, Dartmouth (3-13, 1-1 Ivy) opened the season with a hard-fought road loss to Stony Brook, 56-53. The inability to win close games has been a recurring trend throughout the season.

In another close contest at the Hilo Shootout, Dartmouth was again unable to win a game in the second-half against Hawaii-Hilo, dropping the contest 50-48.

The following day, the Big Green suffered a heartbreaking 49-48 loss to Quinnipiac. Just a day later, Dartmouth lost yet another close battle to Rider, 68-64.

Ten of the team's 13 losses have been decided by 10 points or less, including a 60-57 loss to Lehigh on Dec. 20.

And the Big Green's three wins -- a 95-60 win over Division III program Tufts, a 68-65 defeat of Maine and a 56-54 victory against a struggling Harvard team -- have been less than impressive.

While he refuses to make excuses for his team's disappointing play thus far, Faucher believes injuries have played a significant role in his team's lack of success.

Guards Michael Lang -- the team's second leading scorer --and Jason Meyer have been hampered by injures, and starting point guard Steve Callahan recently suffered a knee injury against Hartford which forced him to leave the game.

"Nobody wants to listen to a guy making excuses," Faucher said. "But it's a fact of life. If anybody lost three of their top five players, they wouldn't be the same team. We kind of caught the injury bugaboo, and we haven't reacted as well to injures as I'd hoped."

But in the midst of profound disappointment, there remains a glimmer of hope for the Big Green: the play of freshman guard Leon Pattman.

The 6-foot-2 Memphis, Tenn., native has earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for four out of the past five weeks. The freshman leads the Big Green in scoring with 13.4 points per game and in rebounding with 4.5 boards per game.

Pattman played exceptionally well last week, scoring 29 points on Wednesday and Friday in back-to-back losses to Vermont and Hartford, respectively.

"He's having an outstanding year for any year, let alone a freshman," Faucher said. "He definitely shows a lot of promise."

Despite the optimism surrounding Pattman's breakout season, Faucher believes his team needs to improve its guard play and defense to compete successfully in the Ivy League.

"Right now we have to take care of our guard play in our depleted backcourt," Faucher said. "Too many turnovers are leading to too many baskets. We need to find a way to get better at it."

Indeed, the Big Green is averaging 13.4 turnovers and only 11.6 assists per game.

On the defensive end, Faucher believes his team has underperformed as well.

"We've slipped a little bit in that area, but we hope to get it back."

With a struggling Columbia team next on the schedule, the ailing Big Green hopes to get its second league win of the season in New York. Despite the disappointments, Faucher believes his team can turn it around starting this weekend.

"We're looking forward to challenging everyone and representing Dartmouth the way it deserves to be," he said. "We are going to take it one game and one possession at a time."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.