Men's Hoops Loses Sixth Straight

A late run by Sacred Heart forced the Harvard men’s basketball team to enter its Winter break on a six-game losing streak.

With the game tied at 58 with 2:56 remaining, Pioneer guard Drew Shubik hit two free throws, starting a 9-0 run that would send Sacred Heart (4-7) to a 75-66 win over the Crimson (4-10) in Fairfield, Conn. and keep the visitors winless on the road so far this season.

Following Shubik’s pair of free throws to start the run, the Crimson turned it over and Shubik hit another pair, making it a four-point game. After sophomore guard Jeremy Lin turned it over yet again for Harvard, Sacred Heart forward Brice Brooks hit a three pointer with 1:28 left. Guard Luke Granato hit another pair of free throws to cap the run. Junior forward Evan Harris finally gave the Crimson a score to make it a seven-point game with 1:02 to play, but the team would not get any closer.

“The key for us down the stretch was getting defensive stops,” Harris said. “We would do a good job for 30 seconds, but not finish. They did a great job of attacking our zone.”

The late run by the Pioneers highlighted the two key stats in the game: turnovers and free throw shooting. After a solid game Wednesday at Northeastern when the Crimson recorded 17 assists against just 12 turnovers, Harvard doubled-up on turnovers Saturday, committing 20 while dishing out just ten assists. Sacred Heart scored 21 points off turnovers in the game, including 12 in the second half.

“It was very disheartening,” Harris said of the high turnover total. “We would play eight to nine seconds of great offense, then throw the ball out of bounds or travel. It wasn’t so much the points off turnovers that hurt as it was demoralizing.”

The Pioneers also took full advantage of opportunities at the free throw line. They attempted 28 free throws and made 25, including their final 16 attempts of the game. Shubik hit 13 of the 14 free throws he attempted. He scored a game-high 20 points and the four other starters for Sacred Heart followed him with double-digit scoring outputs. By contrast, the Crimson attempted 19 and only hit 11 free throws.

Harvard was led by Lin, who scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Sophomore guard Dan McGeary added 10 points, as did junior guard Drew Housman, who also led the team with five assists.

“Jeremy was constantly beating his man off the dribble,” Harris said. “They were really trying to crowd his shot. Drew did a great job off the dribble setting him up.”

Another positive sign from the Crimson was its strong rebounding effort. Harvard was outrebounded by just four boards today, 36-32, and severely limited the Pioneers’ second-chance point opportunities. Sacred Heart had just ten offensive rebounds and only seven second-chance points. The Crimson out-paced its host in both categories, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds and scoring the same amount of second-chance points. Harris led the team with eight rebounds, with Lin adding six.

“Coach [Tommy] Amaker has been really stressing rebounding,” Harris said. “We had done extra rebounding drills in practice this week.”

Following the defeat, the players now get a break for the Holidays so they can celebrate with their families. The next practice is on Dec. 27 in preparation for the next game, Dec. 30, at home against UC Irvine. A break may be just what the team needs to help it return to its winning ways.

“The break will definitely refocus us, which we need,” Harris said. “Hopefully it will help.”

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