Webster's Three-Pointer Gives Harvard Basketball Win over Bryant

Down by four points to a Bryant squad that went 1-29 last season, with 1:15 remaining in the game, the Harvard men’s basketball team was on the verge of a major disappointment. But the Crimson, led by the play of junior co-captain Keith Wright, rose to the occasion and saved its best for last.

With a late three-point play and an assist to sophomore guard Christian Webster on the game-deciding three-pointer, Wright helped lift Harvard to a 69-66 victory over the Bulldogs at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, R.I.

“It’s never easy to play on the road,” Webster said. “They outplayed us. We got lucky.”

Bryant was up, 31-30, at halftime, but the two teams swapped leads throughout the second frame, as neither squad was able to build an advantage greater than four points.

“From after the first four-minute timeout [of the opening half], we were really just in a back-and-forth battle the entire time,” junior co-captain Oliver McNally said.

Midway through the half, after Wright posted up on the right block for an easy bucket and then scored off an offensive rebound, the Crimson found itself ahead, 55-51, and looked poised to take control of the game. But the Bulldogs rallied back, as a loose rebound was tipped out to the three-point line, where sophomore Frankie Dobbs knocked down a trey.

The two teams continued to battle until, with Harvard up, 62-61, Bryant forward Alex Francis snuck around Wright on the baseline and finished at the rim for two points.

Francis was one of two freshmen, along with guard Corey Maynard, who had a breakout performance. The forward scored 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half, on 7-of-14 shooting. Maynard tallied 11 points, as well as 5 rebounds and 4 assists, though he shot just 1-of-6 from distance.

“[Maynard] was very good with the basketball and was able to drive into the key,” McNally said. “Francis is just an extremely explosive athlete…He was really tough to guard. It was pretty impressive for a freshman.”

After the Bulldogs took a 63-62 lead, McNally was called for a charge on the offensive end, and Bryant responded with a three-pointer from the left corner by senior guard Cecil Gresham. Trailing 66-62, the Crimson took a timeout with 1:15 on the clock.

Out of the break, Harvard went to Wright in the post, where the big man drew contact from Francis—his fifth foul—and connected on the shot. After Wright hit the ensuing free throw, the Crimson trailed, 66-65.

The Bulldogs had trouble finding a good shot on the next possession and settled for a three-pointer from the right corner by Maynard that barely grazed the rim.

“[Harvard coach Tommy Amaker] said to get some stops. We had no chance to win if we couldn’t stop them,” McNally said. “So we switched up our defense and were able to stop them down the stretch.”

With a chance to take the lead, Harvard moved the ball around until it found Wright on the left block. The junior, who finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds—his second double-double of the season—had a chance to make a move to the rim, but instead he swung the ball to an open Webster on the right wing. The sophomore knocked down the three-pointer, his second of the game, to give the Crimson a 68-66 lead with 23.2 seconds left.

“It takes a good leader like Keith and an unselfish player to know it’s not about him,” McNally said. “Christian was open, he had a big shot, and he just nailed it. It takes a lot of courage to take those shots in a game. But if Christian doesn’t make that shot, we don’t win the game.”

“I just try not to think about it,” Webster said of the pressure. “I just try to take it like any other shot.”

Bryant tried holding for the last shot, but Harvard, with five fouls to give, forced the Bulldogs to repeatedly take the ball from out of bounds.  With 4.9 seconds left, the inbounds pass ricocheted off a Bryant player’s leg and out of bounds to give the Crimson possession. With 0.4 seconds remaining, Webster went to the line, where he hit the first and intentionally missed the second, and Harvard escaped with a 69-66 win.

“I think [what] shows a little bit how resilient this team is the fact that we won the game,” McNally said. “We had a couple games the last couple years where games like that we would lose. But we came through.”

Lost in the drama of the win was the season debut of sophomore forward Kyle Casey. The reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year made his return from a broken foot midway through the first half. Casey played just 14 minutes, finishing with five points, two rebounds, and three turnovers.

—Staff writer Timothy J. Walsh can be reached at twalsh@fas.harvard.edu.