The Cornell men’s basketball team returned home to Ithaca early Sunday morning with a bittersweet feeling, earning its first road victory of the season against Dartmouth, but failing to knock down No. 23 Harvard, who is currently sitting atop the Ivy League standings. Cornell (8-12, 3-3 Ivy League) lost, 71-60, to Harvard (20-2, 6-0) on Friday, before beating Dartmouth (4-18, 0-6), 68-59, the following night to remain at .500 in the Ivy League.

The Red starting slow has been a major issue this year and the matchup against Harvard was no different. Cornell came out flat, as the Crimson held a 14-point lead going into halftime, 38-24.

“Against Harvard, we got pushed around a little bit and weren’t as tough as we needed to be [in the first half],” said senior guard and co-captain Drew Ferry. “We got it together a bit in the second half and put in a little more energy and a lot more toughness.”

Harvard never took the foot off the pedal, as the team continued to dominate the Red, leading by 22 at one point. Cornell ended the game on a 10-2 run, even though the game was out of reach, to make the final score look closer than it was. Despite the loss, the Red realized the quality of its opponent and spoke highly of the Crimson after the loss.

“They are such a good team,” said senior guard and co-captain Chris Wroblewski. “They play so well together. They’re very close and they all came back from last season, so they had a lot of experience together. It reminds me, sort of in a way, of the Cornell team [that reached the Sweet 16] a couple years ago and how we had chemistry and worked so well together.”

The chemistry between different players plays a key part in the fluidity of the team on the court and ensures that everyone is contributing and making a difference, according to Wroblewski.

“A prime example is Oliver McNally, [Harvard’s] starting shooting guard, who is an integral part of their offense, but he only attempted one shot against us Friday night,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to them who scores and I don’t think there’s one guy who needs to get his or needs to put up his quota of shots — they all contribute and enjoy playing together.”

Head coach Bill Courtney agreed with Wroblewski’s assessment, noting that there is no one superstar and any of the Crimson’s players can be the best player on a given night.

“[Forward] Keith Wright is the returning player of the year and he’s a big factor, but all of these guys can put up 20,” Courtney said. “For example, [guard] Laurent Rivard really hurt us on Friday, [scoring 16 points with three 3-pointers].”

Freshman forward Shonn Miller had a strong game against the Crimson, but was limited due to foul trouble. He scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds and picked up a pair of steals and blocks in just 19 minutes of action.

“[Miller] is playing just so well, and I don’t know where we’d be this season if we didn’t have him,” Wroblewski said. “He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the stats. He does get some blocks, but he alters so many other shots with his jumping ability … He’s so versatile and offensively he brings a different dimension to our team.”

Against Dartmouth, the Red started out strong, scoring the first 10 points of the game. Cornell headed into halftime with a seven-point lead, 33-26.

“We had a great start and we don’t normally do that,” Wroblewski said. “[In the second half], they rallied back and we didn’t execute in the middle part of the game, but it was great to see us close out the game. Last year I don’t think we closed out a game like that.”

Dartmouth pulled within two points with 1:42 remaining, but Cornell ended the game on a 9-2 run to finish off the Green. Similar to Harvard, Dartmouth has a balanced team with several players able to score on any given night. The Green does not have players on the team averaging  more than nine points a game.

“They have a lot of guys who are similar players,” Ferry said. “They have some guys who can attack the basket and a couple of the freshmen were good players too. I don’t know if there was one guy who we particularly focused on, it was more of a collective effort to stop the team.”

Despite its record, Cornell did not take Dartmouth lightly, knowing that the Green was hungry for its first Ivy League win.

“They were desperate for a win and so were we,” Wroblewski said. “They were a team that hadn’t won a game yet in the Ivy League. They came and played their tails off and played scrappy and we needed to be the ones [with more] energy.”

Junior guard Johnathan Gray averaged 13.5 points a game against the Crimson and the Green and provided a spark for the team.

“[Gray’s] been tremendous. What he’s done is play with a tremendous amount of spirit,” Courtney said. “He’s playing so hard and really being aggressive and as a coach you’re pleased with that. ... Right now he’s playing the best basketball of his career … and ultimately he’ll continue getting better.”

Even after winning its first road game, the Red is not completely satisfied and hopes to play better in the future, according to Ferry.

“Getting our first road win felt good, but there’s room to play better,” he said. “Hopefully we can continue to do so.