There is no place like home.

During the first two weeks of Ivy League play, Harvard (2-12, 1-1 Ivy) and Dartmouth (2-9, 1-1) exchanged wins with each other on successive Saturdays, each winning on its respective own home court.

Dartmouth 56, Harvard 54

Dartmouth ended Harvard’s eight-game series win streak against the Big Green in a close game Jan. 3.

Big Green guard Leon Pattman and center David Gardner helped their team secure the win, scoring 16 and 12 points respectively. Gardner scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half of the game, including three lay-ups in a two-minute stretch near the end of the fourth quarter that proved to be the deciding factor in the Dartmouth victory.

The Crimson threatened early in the first half after Harvard forward Zach Martin scored a three-pointer to give his team a 20-8 lead with 12:06 left. But the Big Green rallied throughout the remainder of the half to gain a 29-28 lead at the break.

Both teams fought back and forth into the second half with neither managing anything more than a three-point edge. With 4:23 left in the game, Harvard held a close 49-48 lead. The Big Green center scored the go-ahead lay-up, giving Dartmouth the one-point lead. With 1:26 left to play, Gardner put back his own rebound to give Dartmouth a 56-52 lead.

With half a minute left in regulation, Crimson guard Kevin Rogus stole the ball and was immediately sent to the free-throw line, where he made both to make it a two-point game. The Cantabs managed to recover the ball once again, but the Dartmouth defense forced Rogus to throw up a rushed three-point shot. The Big Green recovered the rebound and ran out the clock.

Harvard 60, Dartmouth 49

After the nerve-wrecking two-point loss the previous week the Cantabs redeemed themselves with a victory over Dartmouth in Cambridge Jan. 10. Crimson forward Matt Stehle scored a season-high 18 points while Big Green captain Steve Callahan put in a team-high 17 points in the losing effort.

Harvard’s defense played a major role in the first half by keeping Dartmouth off the scoreboard for the first 5:30 of the game. This gave the Crimson an early 8-0 lead. The Big Green rallied back and took a one-point lead with less than a minute left in the half. But Crimson forward Jason Norman scored a lay-up shortly before the buzzer to hand Harvard a slim 20-19 halftime edge.

Harvard kept the lead near the start of the second half, but the Big Green answered back with two consecutive 3-pointers from forward Michael McLaren to give Dartmouth its biggest lead of the game at 31-26. A 3-pointer from Harvard guard David Giovacchini and a lay-up from Norman quickly tied the game at 31-31 midway through the second half. The Crimson then capped a 13-0 run, extending its lead to 40-31 with less than nine minutes left. Harvard broke into a double-digit lead after a 3-pointer from Rogus to make the score 47-34.

From that point on, Dartmouth got no closer than nine points.