After winning their opening game, the Red Devils have struggled over the last few weeks. The 52-43 loss to McDaniel on Tuesday, Dec. 3 marked their third straight conference loss and their fifth straight loss overall. Dickinson has a chance to get back on track when they host Swarthmore on Saturday, Dec. 7.

The Red Devils opened up their conference season on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Johns Hopkins, a perennial  contender in the Centennial.  After Dickinson hit a shot early to bring the score to 10-8, the Blue Jays turned up the defensive pressure and went on a 26-5 run to make it 36-13 with 5:13 left in the first half. Hopkins forced Dickinson into tough shots, holding the Red Devils to 6-29 (20.7%) shooting in the first half. The first half ended with the score 38-16.

While the second half was much more competitive, the Blue Jays opened up too big of a lead early for Dickinson to come back in the game. Johns Hopkins went on to win 72-47.

The opposite was true was Dickinson took on Haverford on Saturday, Nov. 23. The Red Devils jumped out to an early 18-4 lead, using defensive ball pressure and a full court press to force Haverford turnovers and generate layups down the other end. Haverford made the needed adjustments and did not panic, chipping away at the lead over the rest of the first half. On their final possession of the half, a layup tied the game at 26.

The second half was played back-and-forth as neither team could pull away by more than three. There were several lead changes and both teams had a chance to win the game in the last minute. With the score tied at 53, Haverford hit a jump shot to go ahead by two with 36 seconds left. Dickinson came down and ran a play that produced a foul, but, a missed second free throw kept the score at 55-54. Dickinson was forced to foul and could not score at the end as the game ended 57-54, Haverford.

For their third conference game, Dickinson travelled to Gettysburg on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Gettysburg jumped out ahead early, but just like Haverford did to them in the previous game, the Red Devils battled back and only trailed by one, 28-27, at halftime.

With a chance to take the lead early in the second half, Dickinson struggled on the offensive end. Gettysburg scored the half’s first eight point and Dickinson failed to score until over five minutes in. Gettysburg outscored Dickinson 15-2 over the first 10 minutes of the second half, putting the Bullets in front by a lead that proved to be insurmountable.

After facing Swarthmore on Saturday, Dickinson will play eight games over winter break. This part of the schedule will be crucial if Dickinson hopes to compete for a playoff spot.