HANOVER, N.H.--"There's been a lot of bad things said about us."

"We were getting a lot of flak from everybody."

These were the sentiments of Harvard captain Ron Mitchell and forward Jabaar Abdi, respectively, after the men's basketball team's momentous first victory at Dartmouth Saturday night.

But now that problem is solved. The Crimson is no longer a hopeless 0-11. Harvard has finally burst through into the win column.

More importantly, the Crimson is 1-1 in Ivy League play, after splitting the season series with Dartmouth. It may be too optimistic to expect an earth-shattering turnaround, but the momentum has finally shifted in Harvard's direction.

The Crimson was clearly too talented to be floundering at an 0-11 record. The ability was there, but something was drastically lacking.

"We've been working for an entire year and no one knows how good we really are," Abdi said.

Tough D

The key change between the 11 losses and the one victory was defense. Harvard came up with its best defensive performance of the season by far.

The Crimson held the Big Green to an unbelievable 11 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Dartmouth was held to 31 percent shooting in its intramural-like first-half effort.

"Our defensive pressure in the first half was good," forward Mike Minor said. "And we kept that up throughout the game."

For the game, Harvard stifled the Big Green offense, holding Dartmouth to an anemic 38 percent from the floor. Add to that Dartmouth's 26 turnovers, including seven steals by the Crimson, and Harvard's truly inspired defensive effort clearly shines through.

Big Green starters Gregg Frame, Mike Crotty, and Alex Gayer were held to a paltry 3-for-11 shooting on the night. This trio is normally responsible for 25 points per game, but Harvard held them to a combined 15.

Even more impressive was the fact that Harvard maintained its composure down the stretch. After the Crimson led by as many as 10 points, Dartmouth took the lead, 35-34, with 1:55 left to play.

Instead of folding and conceding a 12th loss, the Crimson reeled off seven straight points, leading to its 41-35 triumph. This clutch play in crunch time included three free throws by Mitchell and point guard Jared Leake.

Mitchell's turnaround in the last two games has been the key. In the loss to Colgate last Monday, he had his best game of the season, tallying 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Against Dartmouth, Mitchell led the team in scoring and rebounding, with 14 points and seven boards. The dominating Ron Mitchell of old may be just about ready to unload.

"The Ivy League is really important to Ron," Coach Frank Sullivan said. "He came up with a terrific game."

Mitchell even won the trash-talking contest with Dartmouth center Eric Lombard. Mitchell fouled Lombard as he drove the lane with 17:09 to play.

"They shouldn't talk junk," Mitchell said. "I like talking junk. That's the wrong thing to do if you want to beat me."

Last season the Crimson entered the game at Dartmouth with a record of 2-9. Its 73-70 victory was the first of five wins in a row. If Harvard can do the same thing again, everyone might just forget that 0-11 start.