Gellert’s Defense, Harvey’s Heroics Keep M. Hoops in the Hunt

In an exciting down-to-the-wire finish in the Ivy League this year, the Harvard men’s basketball team was again on the outside looking in. On the other hand, the Crimson (14-12, 7-7 Ivy) was in the race longer than anyone had expected.

It was a season punctuated with several exciting wins, a few debilitating losses and continued road woes. Captain Drew Gellert engineered another solid defensive year for the Crimson with 63 steals. First-Team All-Ivy junior guard Patrick Harvey was able to at least partially fill the offensive hole left by the graduation of forward Dan Clemente ’01 with his 18.1 points per game (and even more in the game that mattered most).

The Crimson started strong, with several impressive non-conference wins in November, including an amazing 64-62 comeback victory at Lehigh. But it reached a nadir of sorts in early December in a 51-41 loss at Boston University.

In that game, Harvard shot only 27 percent from the field and 17 percent from three-point range. It was the Crimson’s lowest offensive output in nine years, embarrassing for a team of experienced starters.

“It was truly one of the most bizarre games we’ve been a part of,” said Harvard coach Frank Sullivan.

Luckily, the Crimson had steadied itself by the time the Ivy season rolled around a few weeks later. Right before winter break, Harvard defeated Dartmouth 70-53 at Lavietes Pavilion. Then, after the break, Harvard completed the sweep of Dartmouth by virtue of a 88-57 drubbing in Hanover, N.H.

Gellert broke the school’s career steals mark in that game and Harvey tied his career high with 26 points. Junior forward Sam Winter also continued his solid play, racking up 17 points and teaming up with senior center Tim Coleman to control the paint.

“The thing that makes Drew so impressive as a defensive player is that [by pressuring the ball-handler] he creates steals for the rest of us,” said junior point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman. “His defensive prowess is not even encapsulated in the steals statistic.”

The next weekend showcased some of the most exciting basketball that Lavietes Pavilion had seen in years. On Friday night, the Crimson battled Princeton to a nail-biting finish, but once again the Tigers left with an exciting 50-48 decision.

Instead of wallowing in its sorrows, the Crimson fought back even harder the next night in a fast-tempo game against the league’s best team, Penn.

Harvard took an eight-point lead into halftime, but the resilient Quakers rolled off 14 straight points to establish a 51-45 edge with 10 minutes left. The Crimson was hardly fazed.

“They had a 14-0 run on us?” asked Harvey after the game. “Really?”

Harvey responded by scoring 15 straight points for Harvard, including three unbelievable floaters in the lane. He would end the game with a career-high 28 points.

Penn’s Andy Toole sent the game to overtime with his own clutch shooting, but great defense on the Quakers’ two big men, Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong, by Winter and freshman Graham Beatty shut down the Penn offense in overtime. Harvard pulled out the 78-75 win.

After exams the Crimson continued its hot streak and played another 60 minutes of solid basketball. Hosting Brown on national television, Gellert shut down the Bears’ top threat, Earl Hunt, limiting him to six points.

On the offensive end, everything clicked. Harvey scored 21 points and Winter chipped in with 18, including a strong slam dunk in the second half that put Brown away for good.

“I was floored and really surprised we played as well as we did,” Sullivan said. “Every guy off the bench contributed.”

The first half the next night against Yale was similar and even more heartening since the Crimson had dropped both games to its archrival last season. Harvard took a 38-22 lead into the half, and fans had visions of Ivy titles.

But the Bulldogs showed why they had a breakout season by coming out very strong in the second half. Led by freshmen Alex Gamboa and Edwin Draughan, Yale shot 61 percent in the second half and held Harvard scoreless for seven minutes. Gellert got into foul trouble and suddenly the 16-point lead evaporated into thin air. Once Yale took a 49-46 lead with eight minutes left, it had gained the momentum and did not give it back en route to a 66-57 win.

Standing at 4-2 in the Ivy League, Harvard needed a sweep at conference doormats Columbia and Cornell to keep itself in a realistic hunt for the title. Harvey pulled out a miracle on the first night against the Lions but couldn’t do it twice.

Columbia’s reigning Ivy Player of the Year, Craig Austin, scored 15 points to put the Lions up 44-36 late in the game. But pressure defense allowed the Crimson to get back in the game, and Harvey tied the score with a layup and a three-pointer to make it 52-52.

When Columbia’s Chris Wiedemann slammed the ball with eight seconds remaining, the game looked finished. But an offensive foul call gave Harvard one last chance. Harvey launched a three-pointer as time expired, and the ball caromed off the rim before falling in for a 55-52 win.

The next night at Cornell, which was winless in the Ivies, was another Harvey showcase, as he finished with 25 points.

Coleman also had a strong night with 17 points and 15 rebounds. But Harvard stumbled at almost every opportunity to tie the game, and were it not for some timely missed free throws by the Big Red would not have been in position to win at the end. Harvey was able to get off a 30-footer as time expired, but missed. At 5-3, Harvard’s Ivy title chances were slipping away.

“It was a major letdown on Saturday night,” Prasse-Freeman said. “We’ve reset our goals to win each game [from now on]. We owe it to ourselves and our season to bring it.”

Harvard was unable to “bring it” to either Penn or Princeton on its road trip the next week, getting swept for the 11th straight year and effectively ending its chances for the Ivy title.

Defensively, the Crimson came up strong in Philadelphia, down only 25-18 at the half. But Onyekwe and Archibong woke up in the second half and pulverized the overmatched Crimson inside. Harvard gave up 18 turnovers, which the Quakers converted into easy layups and alley-oops. At one point Penn led by 29, and in the end settled for a 78-51 victory.

The next night Harvard managed to stake itself to a 30-20 lead at Princeton thanks to Harvey’s 17 first-half points. But a burst of energy and good shooting from the Tigers quelled the upset hopes.

Princeton’s Mike Bechtold led a second-half run for the Tigers, scoring 21 points and hitting three-pointer after three-pointer to put Harvard away 70-59.

“Princeton executed their half-court play in the second half when it really counted,” Sullivan said.

Harvard managed to end its season on a somewhat positive note. Gellert and Coleman ended their home careers by helping the Crimson sweep Cornell and Columbia at home, though Harvard did drop its season-ending games at Yale and Brown.

In the end the Crimson had to settle with a bottom-half finish in the standings while Yale, Princeton and Penn participated in a thrilling three-team playoff for the Ivy title. Harvard had to be heartened by the big-game play of Harvey, though not consoled by the fact that beyond the 5’11 guard, the offense was tough in coming.

An experienced squad, led by two seniors and five juniors, had too many poor shooting nights for solid defense to overcome, but the wins over Penn and Brown proved Harvard should still be able to run with the top teams in the next few years.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

RECORD 14-12 (7-7 Ivy)

COACH Frank Sullivan

CAPTAIN Drew Gellert

HIGHLIGHTS Overtime victory against Penn and nationally televised win versus Brown keep Harvard in the thick of the Ivy race early in the league schedule. But a pair of losses to Yale and a sweep at the Killer P’s leaves Harvard in fifth place to end the year.