Crimson Survives OT Thriller, Stays in Title Hunt

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—When superstar Jeremy Lin fouled out with 1:15 remaining in regulation, Harvard men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker didn’t hesitate. He sent in rookie Dee Giger, who had played a total of two minutes on the night to that point.

Amaker’s faith in his young guard was soon rewarded, as Giger drained a game-tying three in front of his team’s bench with 27 seconds to play and later hit a trio of victory-clinching free throws in the waning seconds of overtime.

The freshman and his three classmates combined for 53 points, and co-captain Lin added 18 in 32 minutes, to help the Crimson (16-5, 5-2 Ivy) escape with an 82-79 overtime victory over Yale (9-15, 3-4) at John J. Lee Amphitheater Friday night.

“We’re very excited to have pulled this game out,” Amaker said. “For our kids to battle back, and these young guys...to make some of the plays that they made to get us into position...I think we felt comfortable in that environment—not that we want to be in that situation—but we had certainly worked on it before, and I think it paid dividends for us this evening.”

Without Lin to shoulder the scoring load, Harvard turned to its underclassmen in the extra period.

First-year point guard Brandyn Curry, who was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor in his second consecutive start, contributed Harvard’s first four points of overtime on a pair of free throws and a put-back layup. Following a Bulldog free throw, freshman forward Kyle Casey got to the line and knocked down a pair of his own to give his team a one-point lead.

A tough missed layup by Yale captain Alex Zampier led to a Crimson fast break, which ended on a crucial left-corner triple by rookie wing Christian Webster. The dagger extended the Crimson’s advantage to 75-71. Zampier cut the deficit in half with a fast-break layup of his own—two of his game-high 32 points—but two possessions later, Harvard went back to the ever-dangerous Casey, who collected team-highs of 20 points and seven rebounds on the night.

Coming out of a timeout, sophomore guard Oliver McNally drove down the right side of the lane and slid a one-handed pass to Casey, who attacked the hoop and drew a foul. Casey’s two free throws put his team back up by four with just under a minute to go in overtime.

McNally nailed two free throws following a Yale layup, but he then fouled out, leaving the final outcome in the hands of the four freshmen and sophomore Max Kenyi.

With the Bulldogs forced to foul immediately, Giger was sent to the line on consecutive possessions. Blocking out the noise of an enemy crowd numbering 2,091, the sharpshooter went 3-of-4 at the stripe.

Faced with 13 seconds to make up a three-point deficit, Zampier missed two potentially game-tying three-pointers, sealing the Crimson’s win.

Simply reaching overtime was no easy feat for Harvard, which trailed 51-47 at the 7:28 mark in the second half.

But after a Yale turnover, Curry whipped a no-look pass to Webster, who converted a three-point play and brought his team within one. Neither team would lead by more than three the rest of the way.

The outlook for the Crimson became especially grim just prior to the last minute of regulation. Co-captain Doug Miller came up with a huge block in the paint, but Lin was eventually called for his fifth foul on the possession, setting the stage for Giger’s big shot.

Down 65-62 with 42 seconds to go, Casey missed a straight-on three, but the long rebound made its way to Giger, who swished a right-corner triple to tie the game.

“Coach needed me to do something, and my teammates needed me to hit this shot, so I came in confident and took the open shot,” Giger said.

After Bulldog forward Michael Sands went 1-of-2 from the line, giving Yale a one-point lead with seven seconds to play in regulation, McNally sprinted down the court and drew a foul at the right elbow.

His first attempt bounced off the back iron, but he made the second to tie things up at 66. Zampier’s desperation heave was well off the mark, sending the Ancient Eight rivals into overtime.

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.