NOTEBOOK: Strong Start, Rocky Finish for Men's Basketball in Win Over BC

Fresh off a win at home against Northeastern, the Harvard men’s basketball team traveled to take on local rival Boston College on Wednesday. In a matchup that saw head coach Tommy Amaker become the winningest coach in Harvard men’s basketball history, the Crimson would carry a 16-point first half advantage to down the Eagles, 74-66.

Behind a season-high 22 points from freshman forward Chris Lewis and 18 from classmate Seth Towns, Harvard (4-4) moves to .500 for the first time this season and extended its winning streak to three games.

TAKING THE EARLY LEAD

In a matchup that seemed to follow the script of the Northeastern game the night before, the Crimson got off to a hot start against the Eagles (4-4). After trading baskets early on, the Crimson would go on an 18-5 run in the middle of the first half to take a 15-point lead.

The strong start was spearheaded by a combination of Harvard’s young talent and co-captain Siyani Chambers. 33 of the Crimson’s 46 first half points were scored by three freshmen—Bryce Aiken, Towns, and Lewis. In that same span Chambers would add six assists, four points, and two steals.

While the Crimson has thrived beyond the arc this season, in Wednesday’s game, Harvard took to attacking the basket early and often. The Crimson would outscore BC 20-8 in the paint over the period while taking only eight threes.

After entering the bonus with over ten minutes left on the clock, Harvard would go the line for 10 points to the Eagles’ one in the first half.

“We’re constantly trying to preach, can we set the tone, can we be the aggressor early,” Amaker said. “One of the points of emphasis for us all the time is we really monitor free throw attempts and I just thought that they responded very well to that, making plays, the decisions I think come with that.”

On the other end of the floor, the Crimson forced eight turnovers and held BC to 38 percent shooting in the half. For its part, Harvard would close the half shooting 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from three.

STRUGGLING TO CLOSE IT OUT

Also reminiscent of its matchup the night before, the Crimson, while keeping a healthy lead for most of the second period, struggled to close out the game late.

“They’re always hard fought games,” Amaker said. “Obviously we got off to a great start this evening, but similar to last night we got to the finish line.”

In the second half, the Crimson struggled to create offense and make key stops. Despite another five assists, Chambers would go 0-of-5 from the field while the team as a whole turned the ball over seven times in the period.

After taking a lead as large as 18 in the first half, Harvard turnovers and fouls allowed the Eagles to cut the lead late in the game. Sophomore Jerome Robinson, who led all scorers with 25, kept BC afloat late in the game.

With a little over two minutes to play, Robinson would hit a three to cut the Crimson’s lead to six. Despite facing a full-court press in the closing minutes, Harvard managed to hold on to the lead and hit free throws to close out the game.

“The kid, Robinson, is just so hard to guard,” Amaker said. “We tried different players, different things, and you have particular percentages for his shooting but I’ll tell you what, he’s very, very tough to defend and I thought they played their tails off tonight to make it very interesting for us as the game closed out.”

Harvard would shoot 39 percent in from the field in the period on 2-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Despite games on back-to-back nights, the Crimson would come away with another win.

“In the Ivy we play back to back so being able to come out and compete at a high level last night and tonight really shows that we’re getting there with our focus and our competitiveness and trying to figure out who we are,” Chambers said. “So I think we did take a big step with some tough wins against some tough opponents that didn’t give in and give up.”

—Staff writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at troy.boccelli@college.harvard.edu.