Barnett and Rufful Sweep Weekly Ivy Awards Again

PRINCETON, N.J. ? Senior forward Alex Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.) and freshman David Rufful (Warwick, R.I.) were named the Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for the second time in three weeks, thanks to their performances in historic victories at Penn and Princeton this past weekend. For Barnett, it is his fourth time winning the award this year and fifth of his career. Rufful earned the distinction for the second time this year.

The duo led the Big Green to a weekend road sweep of Penn and Princeton for the first time ever, and just the fourth at any venue ever. The last time Dartmouth defeated both schools on the road in the same season came during the 1945-46 campaign, but the games were played four weeks apart.

Barnett began the weekend by scoring 20 points at Penn as Dartmouth led from start to finish in a 69-59 triumph. He narrowly missed out on a double-double, equaling a season high on the boards with nine rebounds, plus led the team with three assists and four blocks. For the first 39 minutes, he did all his scoring from the floor, hitting 6-of-13 shots and 2-of-5 from behind the arc. But in the final minute with a four-point lead, the Big Green put the ball in his hands to seal the victory at the foul line. Barnett did not disappoint, converting all six of his free throws down the stretch to leave no doubt about the outcome.

The next evening was eerily similar as Barnett hit 6-of-13 from the floor again, including 3-of-4 on three-pointers, as he racked up 16 points during the first 39 minutes. Then with the Big Green trailing by one with less than a minute to play, Barnett was sent to the line a total of six times and sank every one to secure the 66-63 victory over the Tigers. In addition to his team-high 22 points ? his eighth time in 10 Ivy League games with at least 20 ? he led Dartmouth with six rebounds while playing 37 minutes. Barnett also moved into 10th place on Dartmouth's all-time scoring leaders with 1,302 points.

Like Barnett, Rufful was a model of consistency during the two games, scoring 11 points at Penn and 12 more at Princeton. Against the Quakers, the 6-4 wing hit 4-of-9 of his shots ? the third straight game of going 4-of-9 from the floor ? and drained both of his three-point attempts. He also snared three rebounds, handed out two assists and picked up a pair of steals. On Saturday, he was 5-of-10 shooting the ball and 2-of-2 from the free throw line while amassing five boards, an assist, a block and two more steals. Ten of his 12 points came in the first half to help keep the Big Green in the game as Princeton built a lead as big as 13 during the opening period.

Dartmouth (8-16, 6-4 Ivy), currently in tied for second place, has a shot at moving to within one game of first place with a home game against league-leading Cornell (18-8, 8-2 Ivy) on Friday night in Leede Arena at 7 p.m.

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