Ewing Throws Block Party; Beam Rains Threes

For a Division-II team, Sacred Heart gave the Harvard men's basketball team a few more problems than it expected on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The Crimson (3-2, 0-0 Ivy) was often flustered and out of synch on offense, but atoned by stuffing the weak-shooting Pioneers (1-5, 0-0 New England Collegiate), holding Sacred Heart to 36.2 percent shooting from the field and getting double figures from four seniors en route to a 79-64 win at Lavietes Pavilion.

"This was a dangerous game for us in that it was an afternoon game against a team with a lot of streak shooters," said senior point guard Tim Hill. "We weren't smooth and we never really found an offensive rhythm, but our defense did a good job, and that made up for the lack of smoothness."

Wild Bill

With the state of the NBA being what it is, about the only Ewing doing much of anything on the hardwood these days is Harvard senior forward Bill Ewing.

Just two games after tying the school mark of Bill Mohler '88 for blocks in a game with five against Holy Cross, Ewing continued to establish himself as a dominant post presence with a record-breaking six rejections in only 19 minutes. His time was cut short by foul trouble as he collected his fifth personal while clearing out on offense with 6:33 remaining.

As has become typical of Ewing, the senior swatted two Pioneer attempts in the first period halfway back to the Cambridge side of the Charles, rejecting guard Andrew Hunter on a three-pointer from the left wing and guard Shawn Jones on a drive into the key.

"I like to put the first couple in the stands," Ewing said. "Just to do something big, to send the other team a message that they'll have no luck in the lane today."

Ewing also materialized as a low-post offensive threat, making 5-of-8 shots for 10 points and pulling down eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. Ewing's point total was his highest since he scored 12 against Princeton last February at Lavietes.

Ewing displayed improved footwork in the post and for the first time provided a viable second option to senior captain Paul Fisher in the paint.

After Fisher enjoyed an effective first half, hitting 3-of-3 for eight points, Ewing helped pick up his slack in the second, converting on four attempts from the key for eight of the Crimson's first 13 points of the frame. The pair finished with a combined 20 on 9-of-16 shooting.

"Bill provided a real spark off the bench," said Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan. "His shot-blocking was a significant factor on defense and with the size advantage he had offensively, we felt confident giving him the ball."

Raise the Roof, Beam

Senior shooting guard Mike Beam upped his 9.8 points-per-game average with a career-high 22, hitting a crisp 6-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Beam was able to bounce back from a disappointing 3-of-11 shooting effort at Marist on Tuesday.

The Crimson got an inkling that things would break differently for Beam on its first offensive sequence, when he sent a bad pass into the low post but had it kicked back out to him on a deflection. Beam then sank a 15-foot jumper for the game's first points.

Beam also mixed in a runner and a hard drive through the paint, both of which he converted, to go along with his usual catch-and-shoot looks.

"I fed off other people today," Beam said. "[Junior guard Damian] Long threw me a pass, Tim Hill got me a couple of times. I was in the fortunate position of getting easy shots."

Beam added 8-of-8 free throw attempts in garbage time as the Pioneers were forced to foul.

Dan-Gerous Liaisons

Sophomore forward Dan Clemente's recurring ankle problems cast a pall over an otherwise soporific Crimson win.

Clemente got his first start of the season as Coach Frank Sullivan deviated from the standard three-guard set in an attempt to exploit Sacred Heart's size disadvantage inside.

Clemente got his first and only make of the afternoon with 10:16 remaining in the first half, hitting a fadeaway jumper on the right baseline off a dish from freshman guard Andrew Gellert.

On the ensuing possession, Pioneers guard Shawn Jones drove straight at Clemente in the low post and was whistled for a charge, but Clemente collapsed immediately after the hit and exited nursing his troublesome left ankle.

Trainer Brad Quigley escorted Clemente to the locker room to put the ankle on ice and Clemente did not return. He said later that the ankle was sore to the touch but would be reevaluated later in the week.

Under Pressure

For all it did wrong on defense, Sacred Heart did show Harvard two new wrinkles: the full-court press and the half-court over- play.

The Crimson handled the looks with varyingdegrees of success, relying mainly on senior pointguard Tim Hill to beat the Pioneers downcourt inthe full-court press.

"They did show us a good press," Beam said."They have a lot of team quickness. But we feltonce we got the ball into Tim's hands, the presswas broken. For defenses, Tim's humanpress-breaker."

In previous games against Boston College andHoly Cross, the Crimson handled the press byworking a modified give-and-go with Hillinbounding and a post player, usually sophomoreforward Tim Coleman, positioned near half-court totake an intermediate pass and connect with Hillcoming back in bounds.

Saturday, Sullivan's frontcourt manned theinbounds pass and Hill was the immediate go-toballhandler. Although the Crimson committed 10second-half turnovers, many due to poor inboundingwhen the press was on, Hill was able to compensatewith quick ball movement and downcourt passing foreasy transition baskets behind the Pioneerdefense.

"We had confidence that once Tim got the ball,good things would happen," Sullivan said."Fortunately, we got enough lay-ups and fouls oncewe got across halfcourt that our inability toinbound wasn't magnified."

Sacred Heart also challenged with a defensiveoverplay in the half-court, sticking to mancoverage and preventing the inside-outside gamethat the Crimson typically employs. The result wasa season-low 3 of 7 from three-point range forHarvard.

The Crimson countered by focusing on the insidegame, getting 26 from Ewing, Fisher and Colemanand letting its guards shoot the mid-range jumperrather than the perimeter shots they areaccustomed to taking.

"Our offense was definitely out of synch," Beamsaid. "They were overplaying, denying the pass andthat's something we're not used to. So it's a goodthing for us to see early in the season.

The Crimson handled the looks with varyingdegrees of success, relying mainly on senior pointguard Tim Hill to beat the Pioneers downcourt inthe full-court press.

"They did show us a good press," Beam said."They have a lot of team quickness. But we feltonce we got the ball into Tim's hands, the presswas broken. For defenses, Tim's humanpress-breaker."

In previous games against Boston College andHoly Cross, the Crimson handled the press byworking a modified give-and-go with Hillinbounding and a post player, usually sophomoreforward Tim Coleman, positioned near half-court totake an intermediate pass and connect with Hillcoming back in bounds.

Saturday, Sullivan's frontcourt manned theinbounds pass and Hill was the immediate go-toballhandler. Although the Crimson committed 10second-half turnovers, many due to poor inboundingwhen the press was on, Hill was able to compensatewith quick ball movement and downcourt passing foreasy transition baskets behind the Pioneerdefense.

"We had confidence that once Tim got the ball,good things would happen," Sullivan said."Fortunately, we got enough lay-ups and fouls oncewe got across halfcourt that our inability toinbound wasn't magnified."

Sacred Heart also challenged with a defensiveoverplay in the half-court, sticking to mancoverage and preventing the inside-outside gamethat the Crimson typically employs. The result wasa season-low 3 of 7 from three-point range forHarvard.

The Crimson countered by focusing on the insidegame, getting 26 from Ewing, Fisher and Colemanand letting its guards shoot the mid-range jumperrather than the perimeter shots they areaccustomed to taking.

"Our offense was definitely out of synch," Beamsaid. "They were overplaying, denying the pass andthat's something we're not used to. So it's a goodthing for us to see early in the season.