Strolling into Hanover, NH to finish what it started 21 days before when it slaughtered Dartmouth 80-55 in Cambridge, the Harvard men's basketball team stumbled awkwardly and ended up flat on its face.

The Crimson (7-5, 1-1 Ivy League) fell 57-53 on Monday night, a loss which sent shockwaves through a team that has come to view itself as the clear number two team vying with Princeton for command of the Ivy League.

"Overall, it was a pretty abysmal effort," said captain Michael Scott.

The stunned Crimson found itself down 14 points at half, having been outplayed in nearly every facet of the game.

"We didn't have much life [at the outset]," Scott said. "We couldn't get out of the blocks.

The statistics alone tell much of the story. Harvard was outrebounded 25-35 on the evening, and shot 33 percent from the floor, including a devastating 4-for-20 effort from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Dartmouth reeled in 11 offensive boards and shot a glowing-by-comparison 38 percent from the floor.

"They hit the offensive rebounds hard," said senior Paul Fisher. "They had a lot of key [second chance points], and were clearly the aggressors out there."

Harvard's offensive effort was lackluster; the team's precision and shot selection were less than ideal.

"We didn't force shots, but we didn't always run a team offense and didn't make the extra pass," Scott said. "I wouldn't say we were getting great shots out there."

Harvard mounted something of a comeback in the second half, closing to within two on several occasions but was never able to draw even.

"We were on our heels at that point," Fisher said. "We just tried to match their energy."

Despite its second half effort, poor shooting and dismal rebounding eventually did the Crimson in.

"Whenever we got close, they'd hit a big shot, or we'd miss with a chance to tie, and finally we were forced to foul down the stretch," Scott said.

The Crimson got caught napping by a hungrier Dartmouth squad. After battling its way through a tough December that saw the Crimson face several big-time basketball programs, Harvard was apparently ready to coast through its Ivy schedule until it meets Penn and Princeton next month.

The loss knocks the Crimson squad back to the reality that Harvard is not a good enough team to win by dialing in an effort against middle-of-the-pack teams.

"We've kind of been overlooking the Ivy League," Fisher said. "Only two teams [Harvard and Princeton] have winning records."

"We definitely thought we had the advantage going in," Scott said. "A lot of [Dartmouth players], on paper at least, seem inferior."

Paul Fisher was the lone bright spot on the interior, notching a game-high 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

He was, however, the only frontcourt player to finish with more than four rebounds.

Offensively, the Crimson was led by Mike Beam, who finished with 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting, including two three-point baskets.

Dartmouth sophomore Shaun Gee led all players with 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting, and tallied nine rebounds.

Harvard will try to get back on track in the Ivies when it travels to Columbia this Friday. HARVARD  53 DARTMOUTH  57