Men's Basketball Rides Strong Second Half to Victory Over BU

The Harvard men’s basketball team (7-1) wrapped up its 2014 home slate with a 70-56 win over the visiting Boston University Terriers (2-6). After a tight first 30 minutes of play, the Crimson outscored BU, 25-11, over the final 10:39 of the game, at one point holding the Terriers without a field goal for more than seven consecutive minutes.

“I thought they played a tremendous ballgame,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “They scrapped and competed and made it very hard for us. Certainly it was a tight game and I think it was tied up there, 45-all, and then we were able to get back to a comfortable margin there. You give a lot of credit to their team and coach Joe Jones and the job that he has done there.”

Harvard began the game with a sluggish first half. After the Crimson took an early 12-8 lead, the Terriers transitioned to a smaller lineup that gave Harvard fits on the defensive end. The BU two-three zone proved difficult to crack, with many Crimson possessions ending in errant threes by guards Siyani Chambers and Corbin Miller. At one point, five of six Crimson possessions ended with one of the two clanging a shot off the rim.

The Crimson broke through late on the shoulders of leading scorer senior wing Wesley Saunders. The wing, who leads the Crimson in scoring at over 20 points a game, played the distributor role for most of the first half, dishing out six assists. After consecutive fast-break layups gave BU a three-point lead with four minutes to go, Saunders took over.

First it was a drive into the lane where he thought pass from the start, finding a curling Miller for his first three of the night. Two possessions later, he rebounded a Miller miss and splashed a trey of his own to give Harvard a three-point lead.

“I think Wes is who Wes is,” Chambers said. “He showed this last year and this is who he is…. This year, I think he has been a little more consistent throughout the start of the season, but I don’t see any change in how he is playing from last year to this year. He’s still playing great defense on the best player and giving you some great numbers on the glass [and] assisting.

The second half was more of the same, with Harvard making just under 35 percent of its shots and missing three-quarters of its threes. The Crimson compensated with free throw shooting, going to the line 17 times and making all but one.

After watching an eight-point lead evaporate in a flurry of John Papale threes, it was Saunders again, with five points and two assists in a 12-2 run that put the Crimson ahead by double digits. The lead never shrunk below eight the rest of the way as Harvard hit its last 13 free throws.

“I think we’ve been really good at closing games; it’s been our start that’s really hurt us,” Saunders said. “In terms of finishing games, we’ve done a pretty solid job.”

Amaker’s oft-cited priorities—the team’s bench and its balance—played a big role for the Crimson on Monday night. Five different players had at least eight points, and eight played at least 10 minutes. Although Saunders was again the star, leading the Crimson with 15 points and holding star Terrier Wing Cedric Hankerson to three points, the Crimson’s bench nearly outscored the starters with 29 points of its own. Sophomore forward Zena Edosomwan had eight points in 13 minutes off the pine, with Miller adding 14 points of his own.

“When Corbin hits shots it really changes our team,” Saunders said. “Everyone gets more excited and into the game. Those threes he hits are big momentum changers and I think you saw that tonight.”

Edosomwan was part of a stiff defensive front that limited the Terriers to just 32 percent shooting in the second half. With the exception of Blaise Mbargorba, who had 13 off the bench on six-for-eight shooting, the Terriers were unable to get anything going inside against the Crimson.

With senior forward Jonah Travis dressed to play but not healthy enough to come off the bench, Edosomwan played the second-most minutes of his season. Setting hard screens on the outside and fighting hard for rebounds down low, the sophomore—who finished with a positive five plus-minus on the day—filled in ably in relief for the struggling senior forwards Kenyatta Smith (four points, 15 minutes) and Steve Moundou-Missi (two-for-seven shooting).

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com.