Men's Basketball Secures First D1 Win, Defeats Bryant 80-45

In front of a mostly empty Lavietes Pavilion on the first day of Thanksgiving break, the Harvard men’s basketball team ended its three-game slide, riding a career-high 16 points and eight assists from freshman point guard Tommy McCarthy to an 80-45 win over fellow New England opponent Bryant.

“I was very pleased with the team victory that was much needed for our program,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “I thought our kids really responded and prepared and played with a great deal of energy with discipline.”

After a free throw from Bryant’s Marcel Pettway narrowed Harvard’s lead to eight with just under ten minutes left in the first, two dunks from junior forward Zena Edosomwan sparked a 14-0 run that extended the Crimson’s cushion to 22 points with just two and a half minutes to play in the first half. The Crimson (2-3) defense held the Bulldogs (2-3) without a field goal for a nine-minute span in the first frame.

The Crimson hit the floor running the set the tone early. McCarthy found senior forward Agunwa Okolie alone under the basket six seconds after the opening tip-off to open the scoring for Harvard. A three from McCarthy and a putback from captain Evan Cummins on the next two possessions stretched the early lead to seven.

“Tonight was a night when you really felt it elevate—the confidence level,” Amaker said. “That’s going to be a big a piece of the puzzle as any.”

After having struggled shooting in its first few games—especially against UMass, where the team shot less than 36 percent—the team started the game off on a shooting tear, going 11-for-16 from the field and 4-for-6 from downtown to build a 27-16 lead halfway through the first period. It headed into the locker room up 41-23, making ___ percent of its first half shots.

“We need a lot out of [our shooters],” Cummins said. “It’s really important that their confidence stays high. If they miss one, get the next one.”

A deep three from freshman Corey Johnson and dunks from Cummins and Edosomwan to open the second pushed the lead to 25 points and all but ended any chance of a Bulldog comeback.

“We did something we haven’t done all season and that was come out in the second half and … not allow a team to go on a 6-0 run, 8-0 run,” Amaker said. “We actually did that and they had to call a quick timeout.”

While three Bulldogs—Pettway, Hunter Ware, and Bosko Kostur—got to double figures on the night, the rest of the team had major trouble finding the basket, putting up nine points combined through the first 36 minutes.

Harvard’s speed and size was a significant factor in the team jumping out to a huge first-half lead. The Crimson asserted its advantage early in the contest, recording five blocks and forcing 11 turnovers in the first half. The Bulldogs had trouble stopping the Crimson forwards in the paint, as Harvard pounded Bryant down low for 28 points in the paint.

“We always like to play inside-out,” Cummins said. “The way matchups worked out tonight, that certainly worked well for us.”

None of those points came off of Edosomwan free throws, however. The junior put up 14 points in the winning effort, but missed all three of his attempts from the charity stripe. The California native is 16-for-35 from the line on the year.

Even in the win, the team did not solve its turnover problem. After giving the ball away 22 and 16 times against Providence and UMass, respectively, the Crimson coughed up the ball 14 times. However, the defense was able to limit the damage, giving up only six points off the giveaways.

After seeing only two minutes of playing time so far this year, senior Patrick Steeves saw significant action tonight for the Crimson, putting up eight points, three rebounds, and two blocks, the first of which sent the Harvard bench to its feet.

“We’ve been waiting for it to all come together,” Cummins said. “Every game it seems like…. there’s something different that we’re disappointed with.”

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurt.bullard@thecrimson.com.