M. Hoops Forced to Settle for Split

Coming off an impressive win against Brown and up 16 points at the half versus Yale, forgive the men’s basketball team and its rowdy fans if they had visions of an Ivy title dancing through their heads.

Twenty minutes of nightmarish basketball later, those hoop dreams seemed a distant reality.

The Crimson (11-7, 4-2 Ivy) lost its 16-point lead in less than twelve minutes as a heartbreaking second half collapse allowed the Bulldogs (13-7, 5-1) to take sole possession of second place in the League with a 66-57 triumph Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion.

“Our team had really shown solid poise this season, but this is really the first time we didn’t bounce back,” Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said.

The loss to Yale—Harvard’s second in league play—drops the Crimson into a third-place tie with Penn and Brown (13-6, 4-2). The Crimson bested the Bears on Friday night, 89-81, on the strength of double-digit scoring efforts from four different players and stifling team defense.

The win was televised live on DirecTV, marking the first time a Harvard men’s basketball home game has been shown to a national audience.

The weekend split represents Harvard’s last home games for three weeks as the Crimson will travel next weekend to Cornell and Columbia followed by important road showdowns with Ivy powers Penn and Princeton the following weekend.

“Everyone is acutely aware of the challenges that lay ahead [on the four-game road trip],” Sullivan said.

The Crimson hopes to avoid the fate of last year’s squad that lost four road games in a row after a bitterly disappointing Saturday home loss.

Yale 66, Harvard 57

For the second straight year, the Bulldogs left Lavietes Pavilion with an improbable win despite Pat Harvey’s best efforts.

Last year, an overmatched Yale squad shut down Dan Clemente and squeakedout a thrilling 85-83 overtime win. Harvey’s team-high 19 points in that contest were overshadowed by a game-high 22-point effort by then-sophomore Chris Leanza.

This year, Leanza’s one-point performance was not enough to singlehandedly erase Harvey’s game-high 21 points, but a balanced offensive counterattack from a supporting cast of Elis successfully put away the Crimson in the second half.

Down 38-22 after shooting 36 percent from the field and nine percent from beyond the arc, Yale was able to mount a torrid comeback to open the second half by converting on 61 percent of its shots while holding Harvard scoreless for a seven-minute stretch.

Harvard’s defensive collapse coincided with the benching of senior captain Drew Gellert due to foul trouble early in the second period. With 17:53 left to play, Gellert was driving to the basket and was called for his third foul on a questionable play that could have been ruled a blocking foul instead of an offensive infraction.

Gellert then picked up his pivotal fourth foul a minute later when he fouled sophomore Paul Vitelli. As a result, Sullivan sat Gellert in favor of junior guard Bracy Merchant and the senior captain did not return to the game until the 7:23 mark. In his absence, the Elis reeled off an 18-6 run to take a 49-46 lead.

“We definitely need Drew on the court with us,” Harvey said. “He’s pretty much our defensive stopper and without him we were running around with our heads cut off out there.”

Aside from defensive issues, another contributing factor to the stunning turnaround was problems with offensive execution. Compared to the respectable 48 percent shooting from the field in the first half, the Crimson only converted on 30 percent of its shots in the second half (20 percent from the three-point line).

Yale’s switch to zone—a defensive scheme against which Harvard is not accustomed to playing—was chief among the explanations behind the Crimson’s offensive woes.

“The biggest thing was that we haven’t seen zone that much in game-time situations this season,” Sullivan said. “Combined with our ill-timed turnovers, I thought Yale had timely three-pointers and timely extra passes for easy baskets.”

Yale made use of its talented backcourt to upset the Crimson in the second half. Ivy Rookie of the Year candidates Edwin Draughan and Alex Gamboa combined for 24 points, five rebounds and four steals. Playing with no seniors, the Elis were able to get solid veteran contributions from Leanza and junior center T.J. McHugh (team-high 14 points).

After the game, the players said they were intent on not letting a repeat performance of last year occur. In the 2000-01 season, the Crimson had not dropped two consecutive games until a crushing last-second loss to Princeton at home precipitated a five-game losing streak that included road trips to Cornell-Columbia and Penn-Princeton.

“Coach talked about last year after the game and that is definitely something we’re thinking about,” Harvey said. “[Coach Sullivan] wanted us to keep our heads up.”

Harvard 89, Brown 81

Entering the game against the Bears, much of the hype was focused on junior All-Ivy guard Earl Hunt and rightly so. The 6’4 scoring machine posted a 33-point effort in his last outing, versus Yale, and had a career-high 39-point effort two years ago in Lavietes Pavilion.

Hunt scored 30 points in one half in that game. On Friday, he only mustered one point in the entire first half against a swarming Crimson defense.

Hunt finished with a season-low six points on one-of-10 shooting from the field and was heckled mercilessly by the 1800 in attendance.

“[Hunt] is one of the best players in the League and everyone did a good job of holding him down,” Gellert said.

Picking up the slack for the Bears was rookie sensation Jason Forte. The 6’0 guard, who is the younger brother of former UNC standout and current Boston Celtics guard Joseph Forte, netted a career-high 25 points to lead all scorers and also contributed four steals, four rebounds and three assists.

“Forte was the story of the game for Brown,” Sullivan said. “He surprised everyone with his moves and ability to score.”

Though the Bears shot a respectable 44 percent for the game, they were no match for the sizzling Crimson, who scorched the nets for a 56-percent shooting effort and turned in its highest scoring output of the season.

“I was floored and really surprised we played as well as we did,” Sullivan said. “Every guy off the bench contributed.”

It was indeed a well-rounded effort for the Crimson, with four players scoring in double-digits. Harvey led the cagers with 21 points and was joined on the score sheet by junior forward Sam Winter (18), Merchant (16) and Gellert (10).

Winter also racked up eight boards and junior point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman dished out a season-high 10 assists.

After a see-saw first half that witnessed five lead changes and a tie score at the break, the Crimson was able to put the game away with solid floor defense and 60 percent field-goal shooting. Harvard retained the lead after a Tim Coleman lay-up made the score 47-45 with 16 minutes left to play.

The game was also notable for its high turnout of fans for both sides.

Though this could be explained partly by the national broadcast of the game, the Harvard-Brown game has always historically been a high-scoring, exciting affair.

“The atmosphere was absolutely great,” Winter said. “[Former Harvard players Alex Lowder, Bryan Parker,

Onnie Mayshak, Kam Walton, and Damian Long] in particular are always around and always supporting us.”