DALLAS, Texas--David slew Goliath with good shooting.

So did the Harvard men's basketball team (7-4, 1-0 Ivy) slay a bigger, stronger Dartmouth team and fall a tenth of a second short of an upset, victory over Southern Methodist (SMU) in two of the four games it played over the holiday break.

The Crimson played evenly with the Big Green before settling into cruise control in the second half to win the inaugural game of the Ivy League season, 80-55.

Then, after a disappointing 80-65 loss to Navy at Lavietes Pavilion, Harvard journeyed to the Lone Star State. Texas-Arlington was not ready for the bombs Harvard's shooters packed with them, as it was massacred by the Crimson, 73-56, on Dec. 28.

SMU squeaked out its 10th straight victory two days later, as it beat Harvard 81-80 on a gutsy three-pointer by sophomore point guard Stephen Woods in the waning seconds.

HARVARD 80, Dartmouth 55

For the first time in three seasons, Harvard opened its Ivy schedule with a win. It did so in convincing fashion, as junior point guard Tim Hill's 18 points paced all scorers in the blowout win.

"We were very focused coming into this game," Hill said. "The past two years we've lost to Dartmouth our first game, so we wanted this game pretty badly."

Harvard held just a five point lead, 36-31, at halftime, but stellar shooting--51.7 percent for the game--and Dartmouth turnovers late in the game made it a laugher. Dartmouth (2-10, 0-1) totaled just nine assists to its 15 turnovers.

"I think our pressure might have fatigued them a little bit and that didn't help their cause in the second half," Hill said.

The Crimson still held just a five-point lead, 48-43, with 11:43 to go in the second half, but freshman Dan Clemente's baseline jumper ignited Harvard on a 12-0 run over the next 4:07.

The Harvard scoring blitz included two Crimson steals and three-pointers by captain Mike Scott--who scored 15 points--and junior Mike Beam, who added 13 on five-of-seven shooting.

Harvard hit 13 of its last 15 shots to put several nails into Dartmouth's coffin.

"We had two poor shooting games against B.U. and Northeastern," said Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan. "We tried to get everybody to relax and not make a big deal out of it, but in the backs of our minds the coaches were a bit concerned."

"We're a good shooting ballclub," Hill said. "We just have to play with confidence."

Harvard will face the Big Green again tonight. Confidence may be the key to victory, but it can also lead to the dreaded letdown.