Jeremy Lin, Spike Lee Among Crowd at Levien Gymnasium

NEW YORK, N.Y.—Just over five minutes into the second half of the Harvard men’s basketball team’s crucial contest at Columbia Friday night, the sold-out crowd at Levien Gymnasium erupted into a standing ovation. But it wasn’t one of Lions’ junior point guard Brian Barbour’s nine field goals—or even one of four Harvard dunks—that ignited the lively crowd, but rather a sighting of Jeremy Lin ’10 in the stands.

Lin wasn’t the only famous face in the crowd, as renowned film director and adamant Knicks fan Spike Lee also found himself in Levien Gymnasium a few seats over from the point guard of his NBA team of choice.

“I know [Harvard] coach [Tommy] Amaker,” Lee said. “I said, ‘You guys play Columbia yet?’ He said, ‘No.’ So I said, ‘Send me tickets and I’ll come to the game.’ Simple as that, my first Harvard game ever. I live in New York and this is the first time I’ve been to this gym.”

According to Lee, Lin’s presence on the NBA stage has helped make a name for Harvard basketball.

“Jeremy Lin is elevating the brand,” said Lee, who was spotted wearing Lin’s Harvard jersey at the Knicks game on Feb. 19. “You get a Harvard jersey on the court, you get respect no matter where you are anymore.”

Celebrity sightings aside, there was no shortage of excitement Friday night, as Columbia took Harvard to its lone overtime of the season and first extra minutes since Feb. 4, 2011, when the Crimson dropped Penn at the Palestra, 83-82, in double overtime.

“We talk to our kids all the time about this type of game and atmosphere and crowd,” Amaker said. “All this season, we’ve been in a lot of tough, hard-fought games, and we’ve found ways to win most of them.”

Columbia lost its shooting stride during the game’s final stretch, scoring just 22.2 percent and 33.3 percent from three, allowing Harvard—which shot 60 percent from the field—to sail to a comfortable seven-point lead after five minutes of extra time, capturing the victory, 77-70.

“We just started hitting some shots,” junior forward Kyle Casey said. “They changed their defense to a zone, and we were a little stagnant when we first started attacking it. In overtime, they stayed in it to start, and we moved the ball pretty effectively and got some open shots which broke the game open a little bit.”

BARBOUR SHOP

On the Lions’ side of things, one player was instrumental in keeping the game close: Barbour.

The point guard—who averages a team-best 15.5 points per game—had six points in the first half on 2-for-7 shooting, but exploded in the second to finish the game with 23.

“[Barbour] is so hard to guard off the dribble,” Amaker said. “He’s so crafty and slithery and he makes plays. I thought they had an outstanding team performance, and I thought he led the way in so many ways.”

Another big-time contributor for Columbia was rookie center Cory Osetkowski, who came off the bench to score 10 points on four-for-eight shooting from the field along with one steal and two assists.

Osetkowski led an impressive effort from the Lions’ bench, which outscored their Harvard counterparts, 21-15, on the night.

The Columbia offense capitalized on 13 Harvard turnovers, scoring 24 points off of Harvard’s mishaps to keep the game within range despite an impressive 56.3 percent shooting night from the Crimson.

INSIDE-OUT

Harvard’s post play was instrumental in the beginning of the game, as the Crimson netted 18 of its 34 first-half points in the paint, outscoring Columbia by an eight-point margin in the category. The Crimson finished the game with a whopping 40 points inside.

“The game plan was just to attack, and a lot of penetration was open today,” Casey said. “I think we just took the opportunity and executed and finished well around the paint.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, after the first half, the forwards, co-captain Keith Wright, freshman Wes Saunders, and Casey, led the team from the interior with seven, seven, and six points, respectively. Casey and Wright finished the game with 19 and 16, as Harvard’s post play pushed the team to its first victory of the weekend.

“We hope our post players can be efficient like they were this evening,” Amaker said. “That certainly makes for our offense. Everything is geared toward that, for us to play inside out. [Casey and Wright] did an outstanding job of finishing around the rim and being a presence.”

But in the second period—and especially in overtime—Harvard shifted its focus to rely more on outside shooting. The Crimson attempted just three shots from deep during the entire first half, netting two of those attempts and went two for seven in the second half. In overtime, Harvard matched its first-half total, knocking down two of its three three-pointers.

Casey in particular had a strong night shooting. The junior made both of his three-point attempts on the way to a 7-for-11 mark from the field.

—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger can be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.