Harvard Edges Out UNH

DURHAM, N.H.—Harvard received big plays from the youngest and oldest players in its rotation to defeat New Hampshire 83-81 in overtime at the Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.

After captain guard Jim Goffredo’s three-pointer tied the game at 81-81 with just over a minute left in overtime, freshman guard Jeremy Lin stole the Wildcats’ inbounds pass after UNH (1-5) had called timeout. With 23.8 seconds left, he drove the lane for an off-balance reverse layup to give the Crimson (3-3) an 83-81 lead they would not lose.

“It wasn’t designed. but because all the other guys made plays down the stretch, there was an open lane for me because [the Wildcats] were on our shooters and our postmen, so that opened up a gap for me,” Lin said. “And then I just tried to attack it and see what would happen.”

Harvard thought it had won when UNH forward Mike Christensen missed an open three as time was running out. But Lin fouled forward Sam Herrick with .5 seconds left, giving the freshman a chance to tie the game at the free throw line.

Herrick missed the first and his intentional miss on the second was rebounded by senior center Brian Cusworth, one of his 10 boards—a team high.

It was Cusworth who sent the game into overtime. After Wildcat guard Jermaine Anderson gave UNH a 70-68 lead with 14 seconds left on a jumper in the lane, Cusworth answered with a bank-shot from just outside the paint with 4.5 seconds remaining in regulation.

Harvard called a timeout with 10.5 and Lin passed to the 7-footer in the post, who banked home 2 of his team-high 23 points to tie the game at 70-70.

“That play at the end of regulation was tremendous in terms of the patience of the guys with 11 seconds to go, to find the right guy,” said Crimson head coach Frank Sullivan. “Brian’s post-up was as tight to the rim as we see him and he did a nice job finishing.”

Anderson led the Wildcats with a season-high 28 points, and also had 9 assists.

Harvard led by as many as eight in second half, at 53-45, but the Wildcats stayed close throughout and took a 66-65 lead with 1:50 left on a three-point field by guard Tyrece Gibbs.

“New Hampshire was extremely hard to guard in the last eight minutes of the game and into the overtime period,” Sullivan said.

In the first half, it was the Crimson that found itself in an early hole. UNH started strong out of the gate and took an 18-8 lead nine minutes in.

Harvard was able to rally from this early deficit, thanks in part to the play of sophomore forward Evan Harris, who shot 6-of-7 from the floor in the first half and had 15 points. He added a dunk in overtime to finish with a season-high 17, along with a season-high 8 rebounds.

“Evan started out the game aggressive in terms of trying to get the ball to the basket,” Sullivan said. “He did a nice job rebounding the basketball. Look at his line, it is certainly very credible night for a sophomore.”

Goffredo and sophomore guard Drew Housman also cracked double-digits in scoring for the Crimson--each had 14. Housman also played a team-high 42 minutes.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.