Harvard Falls in Double Overtime

The Crimson doesn’t go down easy, Northeastern discovered last night.

A seven-point turnaround by the Harvard men’s basketball team at the end of regulation led to two overtimes, but the Huskies (5-4) came out on top, 76-71, as they dismantled the Crimson (4-3) last night at Lavietes Pavilion.

After playing even for most of the second half, Harvard trailed, 60-53, with one minute remaining in regulation. Senior guard Drew Housman decided to take the game into his own hands. After dribbling out much of the shot clock, Housman drained a long three-pointer that brought the Crimson within four and got the crowd on its feet.

The magic continued even after Northeastern made both of its foul shots, bringing the Crimson back down six points.

Junior guard Jeremy Lin let the inbounds pass roll all the way across the half-court mark before he picked it up and only waited 2.6 seconds to drain a trey of his own. Harvard had pushed within three points and still had an ample 31 seconds of play time, thanks to Lin’s conservation of the clock.

A tussle and a jump ball gave possession back to the Crimson, and Housman notched another trifecta, tying the Huskies, 62-62, with seconds to play and bringing the teams into extra time.

“That’s just desperation,” Housman said. “When you’re down by that much you just have to get 'em up, so I was lucky those shots went in.”

Both teams seemed to enter the first overtime with newfound intensity, and fouls on both sides meant that both teams would have foul shot bonuses for the rest of the game. Points from freshmen Keith Wright and Max Kenyi put the Crimson up early in the period, but each time Northeastern was able to respond with well-planned plays of its own. The 64-62 advantage that the Crimson received after Wright’s first bucket was the first lead the team had held since they led, 17-15, with 9:18 left in the first half.

A layup from Huskies center Nkem Ojougboh tied the game, 66-66, with only seconds to go, and neither team left the first overtime victorious.

“I think both teams were exhausted by the second overtime,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said.

There was little change in either team’s lineup in the game’s final periods, despite the fact that both Kenyi and Lin entered extra time with four fouls each, one short of expulsion. The toil of long minutes seemed to affect the players, as each team missed shots in its first two possessions of the second overtime. It wasn’t until Huskies junior Manny Adako banked in a jumper that more points were tallied, as Northeastern went up, 68-66, with 2:40 to play in the period.

A missed Housman three-pointer led to another Huskies possession, where Adako managed to put in another basket. The Crimson found its rhythm again in freshman Peter Boehm, whose three-pointer brought the game back to one point. It was not enough to grab another lead, though, and Harvard never came back on top. The Crimson’s best chance to come back came on a missed drive to the basket by Boehm, in which a questionable call by the referee led to neither a foul nor a block. Northeastern was allowed an inbounds play and possession that led to victory.

“Everyone that came in played their heart out tonight,” said Lin. “Whether that meant getting boards or grabbing loose balls, we decided to lock down and that’s what started our comeback.”

After trailing by five at the end of the first half, the Crimson shot 62.5-percent from long range to tie the game up, but the deficit in rebounds may have led to its downfall—the Huskies outrebounded Harvard, 43-26, and those extra possessions gave them as many opportunities to score as they needed.

“We kept attacking,” said Amaker. “It was a tough loss for our kids because they played so hard and so well.”

Despite the final score, the Crimson had four players in double figures, with Lin leading the pack with 18 points. He also chipped in seven assists, five boards, three blocks, and two steals in an all-around solid performance that seems to have become typical this season. Northeastern’s top guard, junior Matt Channing, was able to notch 21 points despite shooting only 38-percent from the field. His defensive assignment, Kenyi, was able to get in his face for most of the night, coming away with the ball more than once.

—Staff writer Paul T. Hedrick can be reached at phedrick@fas.harvard.edu.