Men's Basketball Outlasts Holy Cross for Season-opening Win

BOSTON—Amidst a star studded cast, a player usually left a supporting role shone brightest of all.

Junior forward Jonah Travis came off the bench less than three minutes into Sunday night’s contest and provided the offensive spark the Harvard men’s basketball team needed to pull off an 82-72 win in its season opener against Holy Cross at TD Garden for the Coaches vs. Cancer Tripleheader.

Travis was a force on both ends of the court, notching his third career double-double with 10 rebounds and a career high 20 points against the Crusaders. Though the junior fouled out with two minutes to play, his mobility in the paint and 12 first half points kept the Crimson in the contest when its defense could not.

Coming into its season opener, Harvard was figuring out how to manage a group of talented players that have never shared the court. Sophomore point guard Siyani Chambers and junior wing Wes Saunders—who led the team in scoring last year—joined co-captain guard Brandyn Curry and Kyle Casey on the court in their first game since taking a yearlong leave of absence last fall. Though the expectations were high, the four—considered the players to watch coming into the season—started slow and combined for only 25 of Harvard’s 45 points before the break.

Travis outmatched the Crusaders’ low post defense and shot 7-10 from the field and 6-6 from the line in his 22 minutes of play.

“I know my job—to provide energy for the team—and if that helps them get over the hump and slow starts, that’s what I do,” Travis said. “If they need me to grab rebounds, score points, or set screens, [then] that’s what I will do. I know what coach [Tommy Amaker] expects of me, which is to come in there with energy and a bang.”

Holy Cross opened up a quick eight point lead five minutes in, but after overcoming the deficit in the first half, Harvard played with the lead for the majority of the contest and was up, 45-39, at the break.

A 25-point effort by Holy Cross senior forward Dave Dudzinski meant Harvard could never open up a comfortable lead. Dudzinski was the only Crusader to score in double digits, and 20 of his points came in the first half. The senior proved his versatility with two threes, but he cramped up in the second and had to sit for long stretches.

“He has lit us up before and we know what he is able to accomplish,” Travis said. “In the first half, we didn’t play as well before he got the ball, and I felt if we stepped it up when he got the ball and denied him as many touches then we will have more success against him.”

Though Dudzinski could not step up in the second half, the Crimson struggled to contain a persistent Holy Cross offense down the stretch. Harvard held its first-half lead for 14 minutes in the second despite a 15-5 run by the Crusaders. As the clock wound down, Holy Cross came storming back with a three pointer before junior forward Malcolm Miller earned a free throw on the next possession to tie the game. The foul was Casey’s fifth of the game, and he was forced to the bench with only four points on the night.

All tied up with six minutes to play, the Crimson looked to Chambers. Though he had been silenced in the first half, the sophomore rallied to chip in seven straight points for Harvard. Playing with another true point guard for the first time in his Harvard career, Chambers had been somewhat overshadowed by Curry in the first half.

But not when it mattered. After hitting a one-and-one to put Harvard up by one, the sophomore turned and hit a fade away jump shot before sinking his only three pointer of the evening in transition off a Travis rebound. Chambers added two more free throws down the stretch and finished the night with 11 points. Saunders chipped in 18 and co-captain Laurent Rivard led the Crimson at the perimeter, going 3-6 from deep.

After playing from behind for the first 12 minutes of the game, a three pointer by Saunders set up the Crimson’s comeback. Travis picked up a steal on the other end, and fought off a defender down low to tie the score at 23. The Crimson would not fall behind in the first half again, as close play through the next five minutes eventually opened up the score in Harvard’s favor and Saunders pushed Harvard’s lead to six on a three-point play layup in transition with 44 seconds to play.

Holy Cross was ultimately unable to overcome the balanced offensive onslaught, even as many of the Harvard players took the court together for the first time.

“There is always uncertainty,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “Until you play and suit up, you are wondering. I like the fact that we have so many people who can step forward and give us what we need from night to night to win. This group is still trying to find itself. It is evolving and it will be a process.”

—Staff writer Hope Schwartz can be reached at hschwartz@live.com. Follow her on Twiter @HopeSchwartz16.