Crimson Falls in Heartbreaker

NEW YORK—A Valentine’s Day date with Columbia in the city seemed like a promising opportunity for the men’s basketball team to experience some winning action. The night progressed well—Harvard (10-12, 2-6 Ivy) flashed some moves on defense, got physical going to the basket, and applied pressure in the right places.

But at the end of the night, Harvard was outright denied. The Crimson left the Levien Gymnasium engagement empty-handed after losing the lead in the final five seconds.

Down 59-58, Columbia (10-12, 5-3) took the ball at half court with 27 seconds left on the clock. Columbia guard Kevin Bulger accepted a pass, drove towards the paint and put up a jumper. 1,014 fans in Levien watched as the ball kissed the rim and bounced back towards the court, gracing the fingers of several Crimson players before finding its way back into Bulger’s waiting hands. The guard sent the ball back towards the rim, and this time it would fall.

“[Bulger] hit a tough, spinning, one-handed shot,” senior guard Drew Housman said. “[Captain Andrew Pusar] was right there and he played good defense I thought.”

“We had our chances—one defensive rebound and we couldn’t come up with it,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said.

With 4.3 seconds remaining on the clock, junior guard Jeremy Lin received the ball behind the line, as his teammates manned their positions down court. When the whistle blew, Pusar broke free from his defender and took the inbound pass. The captain looked to pass it back to Lin, the team’s leading scorer, only to find him swarmed by two Lion defenders with time ticking down. Abandoning the original plan, Pusar took a few hurried steps up to half court where he launched the ball at the rim. Seeing the shot fall short, the Columbia bench leapt to its feet in a victorious fervor.

Throughout the first 10 minutes of the second, Harvard had looked primed for victory. The Crimson chugged along, leading by as much as 10 over an underperforming Lions team. Harvard forced fouls left and right and utilized a number of free throws to drive its assault.

But as the clock ticked down, a mind-numbing series of turnovers and failed possessions turned the tide and gave the Lions a chance to chomp away at Harvard’s lead. While Columbia amped up its offensive assault, the Crimson lost steam, stumbling through a 5:52 offensive drought and managing only four attempts in the final five minutes.

“We didn’t execute down the stretch,” Housman said. “We were a little too hesitant against their zone.”

The Crimson also had trouble finishing a strong performance in the first half.

Towards the culmination of the first period, the tide seemed to be going the Crimson’s way. With 2:05 left, Harvard held a 33-28 advantage, following a steal by Pusar, that led to two quality free throws from Lin. Enter Lion guard K.J. Matsui. Matsui, who typically averages just over six points per game, drained two back-to-back contested threes to grant the Lions a one point advantage.

Other than the climactic final minute, Harvard mustered up a sufficient post game throughout the second half following its virtual nonexistence in the first. The Crimson grabbed only 11 boards in the first frame. Neither of the team’s forwards put up any points until the second period, when freshman Keith Wright and senior Evan Harris combined for five points and five rebounds.

“That’s not a lot of production there for our big two guys inside,” Amaker said.

The majority of Harvard’s rebounds came from Lin, Pusar, and Housman, who each contributed five. Harvard outrebounded Columbia 15-14 in the second, but the faulty start gave the Lions the overall advantage, 34-26.

Following a rough game against Cornell the night before, junior guard Jeremy Lin stepped up his game. Lin dropped 19 on the Lions, including four points off fast breaks. His presence was felt on the defensive end, too; Lin kept up pressure in the back and caused more trouble than three steals and a block could describe. But—like the night before—lost possessions disrupted the guard’s game.

“[Lin] struggled at times tonight,” Amaker said. “Six turnovers, that’s the thing I’m concerned with more than anything else.”

—Staff writer Emmett Kistler can be reached at ekistler@fas.harvard.edu.