The men’s basketball team can clinch at least a share of its second straight Ivy title this weekend as it travels to Dartmouth and Harvard. With four games to go, Cornell holds a two game lead over Columbia, Princeton and Dartmouth. Two wins this weekend would wrap up a share of the championship. A weekend sweep combined with a loss from all of the second place teams would secure an outright title. Forget it: Senior Jeff Foote and men’s basketball hope up to lock in the Ivy League title this weekend at Dartmouth, Harvard.

The men’s basketball teams 28-point win on Jan. 31st over Yale was quickly forgotten Friday night as the Bulldogs had a strong defensive effort defeating the Ivy-favorite Red, 72-60. The Red were held to 38.3 percent shooting and allowed the Bulldogs, who only managed 36 points on Jan. 31, to shoot 50 percent from the field. The Bulldogs had four players in double-digits with Alex Zampier leading the way with 15 points. Junior Ryan Wittman led the Red with 21 and senior Jeff Foote tacked on 14 points and six rebounds.

“It was a frustrating game,” Foote said. “They got into us a little bit and our shots weren’t falling. We got ourselves into hole and couldn’t get out. You have to give Yale credit.”

Beyond the arc: Men’s basketball showed solid shooting from the field and from 3-point range in the Red’s dominant victory over Brown this weekend.

For the second time this season, the men’s basketball team followed a lackluster performance with a masterful showing just one night later. The Red’s dominating 85-45 win over Brown on Saturday night followed its 12-point loss to Yale on Friday. Call it bipolarity, inconsistency or just an occasional dud. But the fact remains: The win put the team in great position — a two-game lead with four games to play — to capture the Ivy title in the coming weeks.

Men’s basketball head coach Steve Donahue has consistently said that it is hard to rank the Ivy squads in terms of talent this year. These past few weeks have proven Donahue correct, as upsets and tight games have left each Ancient Eight team — save Cornell — with at least three Ivy losses just past the midway point of conference play.

Cornell, with only one Ivy loss (17-7, 7-1 Ivy) and a two-game lead over second-place Princeton, can go a long way toward securing its second straight conference title with wins this weekend over Yale (9-13, 4-4) and Brown (7-15, 1-7).

Head down: The men’s basketball team won a thriller in Hanover, N.H., against Dartmouth, 79-76. The game was the Red’s first double overtime since Feb 2006.

“I’ve been in the league 19 years,” said head coach Steve Donahue. “I don’t take any win lightly, and that was a huge win for our program.”

Cornell built up a 19-point lead, 48-29, only to see the Green whittle it away with a 15-0 run over 5:13 in the second half. With the game tied, 61-61, junior point guard Louis Dale popped it out to junior Ryan Wittman, who had an open look from the 3-point line as time expired in regulation, but the shot didn’t fall.

Check Monday's edition of The Cornell Daily Sun for more coverage

Men's hockey: 2, Harvard: 4

Greening's goal: Junior forward Colin Greening scored both of the Red's goals on Saturday night against Harvard.

The men's hockey team suffered another rough loss at the hands of rival Harvard. Junior forward Colin Greening scored two goals and Joe Devin had two assists. Penalties hurt the Red for the second night in a row; Harvard scored all four of its goals on the man advantage.

—Keenan Weatherford

Men's basketball: 79, Dartmouth 76 (2OT)

Check Monday's edition of The Cornell Daily Sun for additional coverage

Dartmouth: 5, Men's Hockey: 4

To their knees: Junior goalie Ben Scrivens tries to corral the puck after a shot by Dartmouth.

The men's hockey team got off to a hot start on Friday night with two goals in the first 8:00 of action at Dartmouth, only to see its lead eaten away by a series of bad bounces and mental errors. When the dust had settled, Dartmouth won the game in overtime, 5-4, on a controversial goal by Joe Gaudet.

Early in the men’s basketball team’s season — after Harvard’s win over then-No. 17 Boston College and midway through Dartmouth’s 2-12 start — it seemed like the Crimson was poised to make a run at the top of the Ivy League. However, when both teams travel to East Hill this weekend, it will be Dartmouth coming in with the 4-2 record, a mirror image to Harvard’s 2-4 start.

Cornell, at 5-1 in Ivy play (15-7), sits one spot ahead of third-place Dartmouth in the League standings. The Red had its 19-game Ivy winning streak snapped last weekend, but still holds a 17-game streak at home that it will look to protect first against the Crimson tonight and the Green tomorrow.

Junior guard Jeremy Lin’s free throw with no time left on the clock sealed Harvard’s come-from-behind, 64-63, victory against Brown at home on Saturday night. With no choice but to look for a jumper, Lin faked to get two Brown defenders off the floor and earned a foul call –– setting the stage for his 27th point of the game and 22nd of the second half. Senior forward Evan Harris made his first start of the season after having midseason knee surgery only a few weeks ago. He finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks –– two of which came in the final minute against Brown junior forward Matt Mullery.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall, or so the saying goes. The men’s basketball team, the preseason pick to repeat as Ivy League champion and owners of a 19-game Ivy win streak, fell hard on Friday, 61-41, to Princeton. Cornell (15-7, 5-1 Ivy League), the heavy favorite heading into the game, only had one player score double figures in a game that was defined by tough Princeton (9-8, 4-0) defense. The Tigers had four players in double figures and shot 50 percent from the field and 57 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Keep your head up: Men’s basketball dropped their first Ancient Eight matchup in 20 games against Princeton this weekend.