Sigafoos Leads Hoops In Ivy-Opening Win

In its first league game of the season, the Harvard men’s basketball team proved victorious, stomping Dartmouth 67-50 Saturday afternoon behind a career game by senior center Brian Sigafoos.

The win extends the Crimson’s home game winning streak to four and snapped a three-game losing skid.

Though the Crimson (8-5, 1-0 Ivy) led for the entire game and did not let the Big Green (4-6, 0-1) score a field goal until the 12:38 mark of the first half, Dartmouth was only down by six heading into the locker room at halftime.

Dartmouth’s ability to hang on was aided by a late first-half rally, and a defensive scheme that had not let Harvard’s leading scorer, senior guard Patrick Harvey (15.5 ppg), put any points on the board.

The loss of Harvey’s offensive production shifted the scoring responsibilities to the frontcourt, led by Sigafoos and classmate Sam Winter.

Sigafoos had a personal-best 24 points despite only playing 25 minutes, and Winter finished with a double-double, pulling down 12 rebounds and scoring 13 points. Winter also boasted as many rebounds in the first half as the entire Big Green squad.

The two helped Harvard pull away from Dartmouth with an early second-half surge, when it went on a 15-4 run in the first 5:37. Sigafoos scored eight points on this streak, and Harvard never looked back.

“There really was a lot of good passing from our guys,” Sigafoos said. “We could do pretty much anything we wanted on offense.”

Harvard coach Frank Sullivan applauded his big men for stepping up in the game and for keeping the Crimson on a winning track.

“I think it’s a testimony to their skills,” Sullivan said. “When most people think of our team, they just think of our one, two and three men [seniors Elliot Prasse-Freeman, Harvey and captain Brady Merchant].”

The second-half surge provided a dramatic contrast to previous Crimson matches against Rider, Colgate, Mercer and Vermont, when the team ended the half with a lead, but nearly let its opponent come back in the second to win the game.

Despite the history, the Crimson did not feel threatened during halftime.

“[There was] no nervousness at all,” Winter said. “We were kind of upset and fired up, talking about how [Dartmouth’s rally before halftime] shouldn’t happen in a game like that. But we knew we were in control of the game. We just felt like we lost a little bit of focus.”

Winter and Sigafoos were not the only notable performers in Saturday’s contest. Dartmouth’s freshman guard Mike Lang came off the bench to tie co-captain Charles Harris as Dartmouth’s leading scorer in the match, and both finished with 12 points. Lang also drained two treys and had one steal.

“We’ve had our moments where our guys have been able to grow,” said Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher of his freshman class.

The game was Sullivan’s 300th at Harvard, and 500th overall. Since arriving in Cambridge, he has led the Crimson to a 133-167 record in 19 seasons.

Despite the milestone, Sullivan remains modest of his streak.

“I stopped keeping track years ago,” Sullivan said..

Harvard has now entered the important Ivy League portion of its season. Of the 14 games remaining in the year, Harvard will face only one non-league opponent, Divison III Roanoke.

Despite the looming challenge, the Crimson feels its success during its pre-Ivy schedule, when it posted a record of 7-5, has prepared it well for the second half of the year.

“I think it’s important that our guys know how to win and how to finish, even when we’ve let the lead get away from us,” Winter said.

Still, Sullivan is more concerned about his team’s ability to stay focused during the coming exam period, when many team members are distracted by academic concerns.

“When we come back from the holidays, there is a challenge we lay out to the team every year,” Sullivan said. “Usually this is about the time where we lose the rhythm of daily practices and weight lifting.”

But Sullivan added that the team’s veteran leadership will help lead the Crimson through this distracting period.

“We’re hoping that the seniors, who have been through this and understand what they need to do, will keep us focused,” he said.

Harvard will face off against Roanoke (4-4) this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Lavietes, the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Following the midweek contest, the Crimson will face the Big Green again on Saturday at 7 p.m. Harvard is currently riding a seven-game winning streak against Dartmouth, and will look to extend it when they visit Hanover, N.H.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.