Stehle Sparks Offense in Wins

The captain was there to provide the boost, right when Harvard needed it the most.

In the three contests last week, Harvard captain Matt Stehle scored 43 points, pulled down 23 rebounds, dished out seven assists and recorded six blocks and steals.

His 18 point second-half outburst against UC Davis helped Harvard pull away for the win, but even when he was struggling from the floor, Stehle’s tough defense and gritty determination allowed the captain to propel the Crimson to three Thanksgiving week victories.

Mired in an 0-for-10 slump from the floor on Friday night against Sacred Heart, Stehle watched as the Pioneers, who had trailed the entire game except for a brief 1-0 lead out of the gate, pulled even at 57 with just over 10 minutes remaining. With fellow big man Brian Cusworth in foul trouble, Stehle knew he needed to provide the spark for a fading Crimson squad.

On the next possession, Stehle took the ball to the hole hard, converted the layup, and drew the foul. He nailed the subsequent free throw—part of a 9-for-10 performance from the stripe on the evening—to give Harvard a three-point lead.

Sacred Heart wouldn’t quit, however, pulling ahead on a jumper by Drew Shubik. Stehle answered once again, driving to the bucket before dishing to reserve forward Brad Unger, who scored the easy layup. After a fast-break basket by Shubik, the Crimson trailed once again, but Stehle connected on a jumper off a feed from senior swingman Michael Beal to give Harvard the lead for good.

All told, the 6’8 forward recorded six points during a crucial 11-6 spurt by the Crimson that gave it a 68-63 lead with 3:16 remaining and allowed it to hold on for its second road win in as many tries.

Against Holy Cross last Tuesday, Stehle recorded a relatively pedestrian 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. But he fought off the struggles from the field to trigger the Crimson’s 23-7 run that saw it erase a nine-point deficit and forge a three-possession lead of its own.

After junior guard Ko Yada hit a three-pointer, Stehle blocked a layup by Crusader Tim Clifford and added two points at the other end on a tip-in. Stehle added a layup and three more defensive boards, as Harvard held Holy Cross to just seven points over an eight-plus minute span of the second half.

“You have to find other ways to help out when you’re shooting under 25 percent from the field,” said Stehle of his performances against the Pioneers and Crusaders.

But Stehle saved his best performance of the week for last. The weary Crimson squad, which was in the midst of its third game in six days, held a slim 33-32 lead over UC Davis at halftime.

After picking up his third foul, a charge on a fast break, just over a minute into the second half, Stehle went to the bench and didn’t return until the 13:20 mark.

The Aggies had pulled within two and had a chance to tie after Stehle missed a layup—the only shot that didn’t fall for him all afternoon.

On the Crimson’s next possession, however, the captain seized control of the game. Stehle pulled down an offensive board and connected on a jumper. Harvard’s subsequent trip down the floor ended in a Stehle layup. After a UC Davis turnover, Stehle knocked down a three-pointer.

Two free throws and another trifecta later, the 6’8 forward had accounted for all of the Crimson’s scoring during a 12-2 run, as Harvard led by a dozen—its largest advantage of the contest to that point.

“I was taking a decent amount of shots in the [Holy Cross and Sacred Heart games],” Stehle said after Sunday’s game. “I was just missing wide open shots, playing really awful, but I just got some wide open looks [against the Aggies]. It was really my teammates [setting me up]. I didn’t have to work to hard for anything.”

Stehle scored 18 points in the final 20 minutes of the Crimson’s 69-56 win—half of Harvard’s 36 points scored after the intermission.

“I think he’s been pressing all along, and he’s trying to do too much himself,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said after Sunday’s game. “He’s trying to take the whole responsibility on. I think he feels the hype, if you will, the Matt Stehle hype, and I think he’s had enough of it. I think he just really wants to relax and play basketball.”

If Sunday afternoon’s second half performance against UC Davis was any indication, Stehle is well on his way to doing just that.

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