Men’s Basketball Loses Second Ivy League Home Game to Penn 82-67

Harvard men’s basketball (6-10, 1-2 Ivy) lost its second consecutive home conference game to the University of Pennsylvania (5-11, 1-2 Ivy) 82-67, despite entering the game as 7.5-point favorites. The defeat drops the Crimson into a four-way tie for fourth in the Ivy League, leaving the team just outside the bubble to play in the four team Ivy Madness tournament for an opportunity to clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament.

In spite of struggling from the three point line and facing double digit deficits throughout the second half, the Crimson clawed back into the game and narrowed the lead to two points before the Quakers quickly regained control and finished off on a strong note.

Junior co-captain Chandler Piggé once again led the group’s effort, playing a game-high 37 minutes and scoring 15 points. Freshman forward Robert Hinton, senior forward Thomas Batties II, and freshman guard Austin Hunt all posted double digit efforts, scoring 13, 12, and 13 points respectively.

On the opposing side of the court, the lethal Penn duo of Ethan Roberts and Sam Brown proved to be unstoppable, combining for 40 points, including seven three pointers. On the perimeter, the Quakers shot 11-25 compared to Harvard’s 6-25, marking a 20% differential between the squads.

“It feels good, especially getting that first win,” Brown said on the win. “We started off 0-2, but I think that we’re better than the record shows.”

With over 1000 fans in attendance for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day matchup, both teams came out the gate filled with energy. The Quakers, coming off a four game losing streak, quickly attacked the basket, scoring their first six points in the paint.

Meanwhile, the Crimson started off the game hot, nailing its first two three pointers to take an 11-7 lead with 14:56 left in the first half. Not to be outdone, Penn responded with three threes of their own to take a 16-13 advantage with 11:29 remaining. After trading baskets in an intense defensive game, the score stood at 20-20 with 7:49 remaining.

In the next two minutes however, the Quakers quickly found a groove and went on an impressive 7-0 run led by Roberts and Brown. A jumper from Piggé followed by a three pointer from freshman Tey Barbour narrowed the deficit to 2 points with just over five minutes left.

After securing several offensive rebounds, Penn capitalized on its second chance attempts to extend its lead to 36-30. In the waning seconds of the period, Brown caught an inbound pass on the Quakers’ side of the court and connected on a deep heave from half court. His teammates swarmed him as Penn entered the locker room up 39-30.

“Sometimes you’ve just gotta hoist it up and pray,” Brown said. “It’s better to be lucky than good sometimes.”

In the first two minutes of the second half, Brown quickly scored five points to enlarge the lead to 12. The advantage sustained through the first several minutes as the Quakers took an 11 point lead with just over 14 minutes left.

Harvard’s young squad wouldn’t go down without a fight. Baskets from Piggé, Hinton, and senior guard Evan Nelson fueled a 9-0 run to slim the deficit to just two points with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

Penn never relented, making four threes in the next five minutes to take a 12-point lead and effectively put the game out of reach. Despite fighting back and reducing the lead to just six points with over two and a half minutes left, the Crimson let up seven consecutive points, enabling the Quakers to put the nail in the coffin and win by a margin of 15 points.

Harvard will attempt to rebound and move up the standings on Saturday when it travels to New Haven and takes on arch rival Yale.

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com.