Men's Basketball Loses to B.U. in Final Second

BOSTON--It was 50's Night in Case Gym at Boston University last night, and the score showed it, as the Terriers topped the Harvard men's basketball team 58-57.

The Crimson (3-3) handed B.U. (1-5) its first win of the season when captain Damian Long's 10-foot baseline jump shot with 0.8 seconds remaining rimmed in and out.

The Crimson trailed 58-56 after a lay-up by the Terriers' Matt Turner with 1:35 remaining, and had a chance to tie the game when freshman point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman shot a pair of free throws with 13.7 seconds remaining.

But Prasse-Freeman missed the first before making the second, and Long's potential game-winner didn't fall, dropping Harvard to .500.

"One shot and we could have been down here patting each other on the heads," said Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan. "I told them in the timeout that it would be hard to get the shot off in that short corner."

If the Crimson had shot better than 3-of-22 from three-point range, or if it had made more than two-thirds of its free throws, it might be 4-2 now instead of 3-3.

The Terriers had tied the game at 53-53 with 3:08 remaining, capping a 5-0 run with a free throw by forward Jean Avebe. Avebe led B.U. with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and added six boards.

After Avebe's free throw, junior Tim Coleman missed an outside jump shot, giving the ball back to the Terriers.

After a B.U. timeout, the Terriers lofted an outside shot that missed, but sophomore Ignacio Rodriguez got the offensive rebound and then missed a dunk while being fouled by Prasse-Freeman

Rodriguez missed his first free throw but made the second to make the B.U. lead 54-53. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Prasse- Freeman mishandled the ball and the Terriers' Matt Turner got the loose ball.

With most of the Crimson players at the other end of the court, Turner was able to exploit the man advantage and feed Avebe for an easy lay-up.

With the Terriers up 56-53, sophomore guard Drew Gellert found Coleman open beyond the three-point arc. Coleman drained the shot to tie the game at 56-56 with 1:51 to play.

After a Crimson timeout, Turner, who had 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting, drove the lane and made a lay-up to put B.U. back on top 58-56.

Harvard's next possession was marked by a glut of offensive rebounds. After Long missed on a look from just inside three-point range, Gellert got the offensive board and kicked it to junior Dan Clemente, who fired from behind the three-point line.

Clemente, who had six points on 3-of-16 shooting, missed this three-point shot just as he missed each of the other seven threes he took last night.

"They did a good job surrounding Dan," Sullivan said. "That for us is the story of the game. This is the first game we haven't gotten excellent shooting from Dan, and with a young team, it's something we've never experienced."

Gellert again grabbed the offensive rebound. Avebe broke up Gellert's pass but Prasse-Freeman recovered the ball. The Crimson again swung the ball to Long who, again, missed from three-point range.

B.U. grabbed the rebound and promptly called timeout. Leading 58-56 the Terriers tried to work the ball methodically downcourt, but Gellert stole the ball at mid-court and fed Prasse-Freeman, who missed his lay-up as he was fouled with 13.7 seconds remaining.

Prasse-Freeman had two free throws to tie the game but could only convert on one of them, missing the first and making the second. Prasse-Freeman made 10-of-12 free throws on the night.

B.U. called a timeout to plan how to protect its 58-57 lead. On the B.U. inbounds pass, Harvard immediately fouled sophomore Dereck Franklin who went to the line shooting one-and-one.

Franklin missed his first free throw and the Crimson inbounded the ball and pushed it up the court. The Terrier defense was stifling, however, and Avebe deflected Long's pass to Clemente out of bounds with 1.4 seconds remaining.

Harvard tried to screen to get Clemente open, but on the inbounds pass from Prasse-Freeman, Avebe again deflected the ball out of bounds, this time with 0.8 seconds remaining.

After the Crimson called a timeout, Prasse-Freeman found Long on the right baseline about 10 feet from the basket. Long turned and had an open look at the hoop, but his shot was just long, rimming in and out and falling to the floor as time expired.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of this game was the lackluster performance of Clemente. Although the Terrier defense did a good job defending him, many of his shots from behind the three-point line were open looks that simply didn't fall.

The Crimson continued its streak of doing much better in the second half of games. In fact, during the last 8:37 of the first half, Harvard managed only one field goal on a short hook shot from Coleman.

The standout player in this game for the Crimson was Prasse-Freeman. He finished with 16 points, three assists and four rebounds and was able to penetrate the lane against the over-aggressive Terrier defenders.

"They went for eye-fakes, that's how aggressive they were," Prasse-Freeman said. "And their help defense was bad so I was able to drive the lane."

As with all one-point losses, if only a few little things had gone the Crimson's way the outcome would have been quite different.

Harvard has to figure out how to win the close games, since its three losses this season have come by a combined eight points.