Harvard Remains Unbeaten With Win Over Sacred Heart

After a quick sprint out of the gate, the weary Crimson hung on for a 75-72 win over Sacred Heart Friday night at the Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn.

The victory was the 900th in the more than 90-year history of the men’s basketball program and marked the first time in three years that the Crimson won back-to-back road games.

“Naturally we are pleased with the start,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “Winning back-to-back road games is significant for us since we haven’t done in three years.”

Freshman point guard Drew Housman led Harvard with 16 points, but none were bigger than the two free throws he hit with 31 seconds left to give the Crimson a 73-70 advantage. The 5’11 rookie had just lost a crucial turnover which the Pioneers turned into a layup to pull within one for the first time since the 5:46 mark.

“I think the thing that our team has done in the first four games is show poise,” Sullivan said. “Drew as an individual has had very good poise. He’s been as solid as Elliott [Prasse-Freeman ’03] was in his first season at the point. I’m just impressed with the confidence level that he has and his resolve.

Sacred Heart’s Jarrid Frye, who led all scorers with 23 points, missed a three pointer with 14 seconds remaining and the Pioneers’ Drew Shubik missed another trifecta nine seconds later. Harvard senior guard Michael Beal grabbed the rebound and sank both of his free throws to ice the game for the Crimson.

Harvard reserve forward Brian Darcy hit a free throw with 13:55 remaining to stake the Crimson to a 55-47 lead—its biggest advantage of the second half. But the Pioneers put together a 10-2 run to knot the game at 57 and capitalized on that momentum to take its first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 61-60 with 6:35 remaining.

After trading buckets, Harvard captain Matt Stehle hit a jumper and junior guard Jim Goffredo hit a three pointer to give the Crimson a 67-63 advantage with just over five minutes remaining.

Stehle overcame an 0-for-10 start from the field to hit two of his final three shots along with a 9-of-10 performance from the line for a season-high 13 points. The senior forward also led the team with eight rebounds and three blocks. Stehle took on the task of guarding Sacred Heart big man Kibwe Trim since Crimson center Brian Cusworth spent most of the contest battling foul trouble before picking up his fifth with 1:55 to go.

“I think the foul trouble bothered us,” Sullivan said. “We got into foul trouble in the first half and we weren’t as relaxed as we could have been defensively. We were timid."

Trim entered the contest averaging 20.5 points per game for the Pioneers, but the Crimson held him to 14 points and four rebounds on the night.

“He’s a very strong player, but we had a pretty good read on him,” Cusworth said. “His game is very simple, he just tries to overpower players. I think for the most part we did a pretty good job guarding him, and keeping the ball out of his hands.”

Harvard carved out a nine-point lead, 39-30, with 2:37 left in the first half as sophomore forward Brad Unger hit two free throws. But Frye and Pioneers guard Luke Granato hit back-to-back threes to pull within three, the same margin separating the two teams at the half.

“For two years [Frye] has been a guy we can’t get a handle on,” Sullivan said. “We really had trouble staying with him due to the quickness of his dribble. He’s a very creative player.”

Coming off a convincing 70-55 win over Holy Cross on Tuesday, the Crimson capitalized on that momentum right out of the gate against Sacred Heart, pulling out to a quick 14-5 lead, including five points from Housman.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.