Men’s Basketball Sinks Columbia, 90-82, Falls Away at Cornell, 75-60

After scoring 27 points in his first collegiate game for the Crimson, first-year guard Robert Hinton immediately turned his focus to the Cornell game, where his older brother Adam, now a junior, would soon be taking the court.

“To this day, he’s still the best role model, his personality, his character,” reflected Hinton. “He’s a really relentless guy, and he pushes me so much, and I can’t wait to beat him twice this year,” Hinton added with a grin.

Hinton will have to wait for his first win over his older brother, however, as the Big Red generated a second half-storm Saturday night to blow past the Crimson, 75-60, in the first back-to-back weekend of the Ivy season.

Harvard (7-12, 2-4 Ivy) came into its matchup with Cornell (13-6, 5-1 Ivy) less than 24 hours after securing a hard fought 90-82 victory over Columbia (11-7, 0-5 Ivy) at Levien Gymnasium in New York City.

Needing a win against the Lions to stay on pace for a spot in the Ivy Madness tournament, the Crimson were led by massive offensive performances from Hinton and junior captain Chandler Piggé, who scored 28 and 26 points respectively, both career-highs.

Piggé continued to show why head coach Tommy Amaker has repeatedly called him the team’s MVP, also adding a team-high eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

“We played hard,” Hinton reflected after the game. “The coaches had told us before the game that it would be a game of runs. We came out really fast at the start. Columbia fought back, but I thought we showed a lot of fight and a lot of composure — except for the end maybe.”

Harvard led for all but 26 seconds of the contest, although it let its lead slip from 13 to seven in the closing minutes of the game, giving the hosts a glimmer of hope.

Any signs of fatigue from the night before were not visible at tipoff on Saturday, as the Crimson rushed out to a 12 point lead against Cornell inside five minutes.

Sophomore forward Thomas Batties II imposed himself on the game, scoring 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers to help the Crimson into a 32-23 lead with four minutes to play in the first half.

Despite Harvard’s early momentum, the Big Red were able to gain a footing, scoring the last seven points of the half, and five more unanswered to start the second, taking its first lead of the game 35-32. Cornell would stretch that 12-0 run into an extended 22-2 run, leaving Harvard with an 11-point deficit, 45-34, and 15 minutes to play.

Without sophomore forward Luka Ace-Nasteski, Harvard were at times overpowered by Cornell’s big men, ultimately being outscored 44-26 in the paint.

Despite its best efforts, the Crimson could not regain the momentum they started the game with in front of the roaring Cornell crowd.

The Big Red would stretch its lead to as much as 20 points and never let Harvard within three possessions.

The Crimson heads to Dartmouth (9-10, 3-3 Ivy) next Saturday. Six games into the Ivy League season, Yale (13-6, 6-0 Ivy), Cornell, and Princeton (15-6, 4-2 Ivy) seem to have a firm grip on three of four Ivy Madness spots, with Dartmouth currently holding the fourth spot over Harvard, Brown (10-9, 2-4 Ivy), and Penn (6-13, 2-4 Ivy), by just one win.

Harvard will hope to pull even with Dartmouth in the standings, before a Valentine’s Day rematch against the Big Red in Cambridge the following week.

– Staff Writer Alexander K. Bell can be reached at alexander.bell@thecrimson.com