CRIMSON LIVE: Men's Basketball vs. Princeton

FINAL SCORE: Harvard 74, Princeton 67, OT

[:00] Harvard picks up its second Ivy win and breaks its seven game losing streak! Princeton's road woes continue. Never would have guessed this with Harvard down by eight with 2:28 to play!

[:09] On Princeton's last chance to keep it close, McGeary picks Princeton's Schroder at the top and gets fouled. His two free throws seal it.

[:20] The teams are trading fouls here in the final seconds. Harvard fouls Princeton's Noah Savage, who's six free throws have accounted for Princeton's only six of the OT. Harvard 72, Princeton 67

[:30] Two free throws by Princeton breaks the Harvard run finally. Then, after running down the clock, Lin drives and pulls up to score from 8 feet. Two Princeton free throws are followed by two free throws from Housman. Harvard 72, Princeton 65

[2:24] Housman drives the lane after Harvard runs down the shot clock. He can't convert the layin, but freshman Kyle Fitzgerald tips it in! Harvard's on a 15-0 run, and Fitzgerald's a big reason for the Crimson lead. I wouldn't have predicted this... Harvard 68, Princeton 61

[3:05] That's 13 unanswered for the Crimson. A Lin jumper starts the extra period, then two offensive rebounds lead to a Dan McGeary three in front of the Crimson bench as the Harvard crowd erupts. Harvard 66, Princeton 61

OT

[:00] - Lin drives down the right side and scores around his man easily with 9 seconds to play. No timeout, and Princeton goes the length of the floor. Koncz puts it up and misses. The Tigers get two chances at the tip in, the first misses badly, the second goes IN AND OUT as the buzzer sounds. We've got overtime at Lavietes as Harvard scores eight straight to force it! Harvard 61, Princeton 61

[:17] It'll be a heck of a finish at Lavietes. After an ugly Dan McGeary drive, Harris recovers and puts it back to pull Harvard within 4. Then, Harris steals Princeton's attempted length of the court pass trying to break Harvard's full court press. A Housman drive and miss leads to Harris tapping the offensive rebound to Fitzgerald who puts it in. A Fitzgerald block on the other end gives Harvard the chance for the tie with just 17 seconds to play

[2:18] Unger is keeping Harvard in this on the offensive end. He takes a pass from Housman this time and converts a little right-handed hook from the right side to keep the Crimson within six. Harvard's now in the fullcourt press. Princeton 61, Harvard 55.

[2:28] Two Princeton FT's by Koncz, then Lin finds Unger in the post who scores around two players with a nice move. Now, with both teams in the bonus, the Tigers' Noah Savage hits two free throws Princeton 61, Harvard 53.

[3:10] A McGeary three rims out, then Princeton's Marcus Schroder drives the seemingly wide open lane to get blocked out of nowhere by Jeremy Lin! Great block, but Princeton recovers and gets fouled, and will shoot two out of the timeout, still trailing. Princeton 57, Harvard 51

[4:04] Blankenau seeing some minutes in crunch time here, let's see if he can get a shot off. Lin misses the front half of a one-and-one free throw attempt that could have brought the Crimson closer.

[4:04] Harvard burned by ANOTHER backdoor cut by the Tigers' Jason Briggs, who scores again. That's probably his 5th that he's converted. Princeton 57, Harvard 51.

[5:29] Outside shooting was a good plan. McGeary tried for another one, but he was fouled. He hit all three free throws. Then, an extended Harvard man trap gave Jeremy Lin a steal and a coast-to-coast lay in. It's a ballgame! Princeton 55, Harvard 51.

[6:32] Sophomore Alek Blankenau checks in for the Crimson, Amaker seems to want some outside shooting. Unger stops the run, scoring from the post, giving Harvard some life after two more Princeton FT's. Then Dan McGeary hits a three right in front of us to pull the Crimson within seven. Princeton 53, Harvard 46.

[7:25] Savage's free throw gives Princeton the double-digit lead. Harvard follows that with a miss on the inside, and a turnover on an entry pass by Lin into Fitzgerald. Princeton's on a 9-2 run, and will shoot two more FT's after the timeout. Princeton 51, Harvard 41

[8:31] Koncz takes it inside this time, driving around Unger's block attempt and scoring from the left side. Harris follows with a post move of his own, but on the other end, the Tigers' Noah Savage scores and is fouled by Unger, putting Princeton up big. Savage will shoot a FT after the timeout to try to extend the lead to double digits. Princeton 50, Harvard 41.

[10:45] More flurries of action from Lavietes. Three straight possessions where the Tigers have come up with buckets. Fortunately, Andrew Pusar had a nice offensive rebound on a Brad Unger missed jumper to give the Crimson a bucket. But, Harvard needs to keep scoring to keep it tight. Princeton 46, Harvard 39.

[12:41] Game is definitely picking up pace after the slow first half. Harris pulls the Crimson within one after an ugly left-handed shot leaning into his defender from the post. Then, Lincoln Gunn hit a pretty jumper from 15-feet on the other end. Princeton 40, Harvard 37

[14:00] Koncz, the Harvard killer last time out in New Jersey, hits a three pointer to put Princeton up 5. Lin comes back on the other end and scores again though to keep it close. Princeton 38, Harvard 35

[15:29] First showing of good Harvard post defense by Evan Harris who forces his man into a bad shot. On the other end, Harvard's Lin drives around his man for an easy bucket. Princeton 35, Harvard 33.

[16:12] A Noah Savage layin, followed by a Housman missed wide open three and two Lincoln Gunn free throws puts Harvard down 4 now after the tie.

New Blogger Kevin Reyes here, after technical difficulties

[17:15] Harvard showing good discipline on offense. Moving the ball around, forcing Princeton out of their stifling zone. Another foul called on Princeton, this time sending Evan Harris to the line. He can tie the game.....and does. Harvard 31, Princeton 31.

[18:04] Unger with a basket followed by a nice Jeremy Lin drive to draw the foul. Lin makes one of two to cut the lead down to two. Princeton 31, Harvard 29.

[18:42] Princeton's Noah Savage makes both free throws and pushes the lead to five. Princeton 31, Harvard 26.

[19:24] First foul of the second, on Pusar. Although it seems Harvard should be down by more, they're precariously holding on to a three point deficit. Two possessions for the Crimson, two poor shot choices, and two quick fouls. Not the best of starts for Harvard.

Halftime recap and stats coming soon.

- After carrying the team in the last two games with hot shooting, Housman has cooled off considerably tonight. 0-4 from the floor with two turnovers, the Crimson need Drew to find his scoring touch in the second half to have a shot at this game.
- In typical fashion, Harvard finds itself on the wrong end of the rebounding and paint-scoring chart. Princeton has a 15-10 advantage on the class and has scored four more paints in the paint.
- Leading scorers: Princeton's Kyle Koncz with seven and Brad Unger with eight to lead all scorers.
- Princeton is shooting 52% from the floor. Harvard has been abysmal from the three point line: 17%. It's surprising that the scoreline is still tight between both teams.

[:00] Back the other way, Harvard can't do anything with their possession as time expires.

[1:00] Hard foul on Princeton's Marcus Schroeder. He makes both free throws and puts Princeton back up by one. Harvard quickly brings the ball up court, but McGeary backfires from three. 28 seconds remaining, Princeton might hold it here for one last shot. Nope, they find a cutter in the lane and get the easy layup. Princeton 29, Harvard 26.

[1:22] Timeout, Princeton. Amaker must have said something right in his last timeout. The Crimson have snapped out of their lethargic play on defense and have forced the game into a faster tempo. Let's see what happens after this timeout. It's obvious Princeton wants to slow it down and take the methodical approach. Harvard needs to push the game to a higher pace if they want to hang with the Tigers.

[1:30] Gunn bringing the ball down the court for the Crimson, Princeton rotating the ball around the perimeter nicely, Koncz pulls up for the three....and misses. Harvard with the ball, Harris backing his defender down, puts up a wayward shot but gets hacked on the wrist. Two from the charity strip. They can take the lead here with two successful free throws. Harris calmly makes both, Harvard regains the lead. [Harvard 26, Princeton 25]

[2:42] Hard fought loose ball, Jeremy Lin gets elbowed AND kneed in the face on his way down. He still manages to clutch on to the ball, but so does his Princeton defender. Jump ball coming up.....the Tigers win it and get the basket. [Princeton 25, Harvard 21]

Hey guys, we've got Kevin Reyes competing in the thre point contest. He misses his first two shots, makes the next, and misses the money ball. The pressure is mounting on Kevin, after an impressive showing in the preliminaries, Kevin just couldn't drain the money balls. Good effort though!

[4:01] After the timeout, Harvard settles into a zone and keeps the Princeton out of the inside. They still give up an open look from three, but the Tigers miss and Harvard counters down the court with a Harris layup. [Princeton 23, Harvard 18]

[5:28] And just as I say that, Princeton counters with an easy drive down the court and an uncontested layup. Lethargic would be the best way to describe the Crimson. ANOTHER easy layup by the Princeton, the third such basket in a row. Honestly, this is some of the worst interior defense I've seen by the Crimson.....and I was blogging the Cornell/Columbia fiasco. [Princeton 23, Harvard 14]

[6:12] Good post moves displayed by Unger. Back to the basket, drives his man back and nails the layup. Back on the other end, an errant pass leads to a back-court violation. There's still some life left in the Cambridge men. Princeton 19, Harvard 14.

[7:11] Timeout, Crimson. Update on the women's game. Harvard's ladies are leading 21-10 over the Tigers.

[7:30] The game is slowly getting away from Harvard here. Another easy basket - this time a pull-up jumper by Zach Finley - stretches the lead out to seven. Princeton 19, Harvard 12.

[8:34] WOW. So I cricticized Gunn's ball skills, but he quickly retorted with a beautiful cutting pass into the paint for his teammate Marcus Schroeder. Another easy two points. Princeton 17, Harvard 12.

[9:31] Princeton settling into their classic offensive set. Unfortunately, Princeton's Lincoln Gunn can't dribble and is promptly called for traveling. Nice name, poor handles.

[11:02] Big THREE by Princeton's Kyle Koncz. Timeout called by Amaker. Harvard is doing a decent job of defending the paint for once, but have forgotten their responsibilities on the perimeter. The Tigers simply moved the ball with ease and Koncz had a wide-open look for the downtown jumper. Princeton 13, Harvard 10.

[11:57] McGeary shooting three for the Crimson. He makes two free throws to tie the game. Back on the other end, Doug Miller forces his counterpart (Also numbered 34) out of bounds. McGeary showing some shake and bake moves on the baseline, forces the blocking violation. Harvard 10, Princeton 10.

[12:55] Harvard finally pulls down a board....but fails to get a quality shot off as Housman inexplicably forces an inside shot over three big men. Princeton does nothing on the other end, the Crimson capitalize and draw a foul on the three point line, Princeton's second of the night.

[13:35] Steady pace so far as both teams trade baskets. The Crimson defense is starting to fall apart as the Tigers are finding easy opportunities on the inside. Hmmm, domination on the inside, where have I seen that before? Princeton 10, Harvard 8.

[15:56] Classic Princeton offense works to no avail. The Tigers run down the shot clock but can't get an open look. Off the rebound, the Crimson drive back down the court but freshman Kyle Fitzgerald can't put in the easy gimme layup. C'mon kid. [Harvard 6, Princeton 5.]

[16:22] Harvard takes an early lead over the Tigers as Jeremy Lin pulls up for the 15-foot jumper. Harvard 6, Princeton 3

[20:00] Looks like we won't be needing those 350 student tickets. The home crowd is about 20 strong, and that's being generous. Eerily silent here at Lavietes.

We're here live at Lavietes on this snow Friday night for some Ivy league action! The Harvard Crimson are set to face the Princeton Tigers and we'll be live-blogging all the events to you like only the Crimson can.