Late-Game Dry Spell Downs Harvard

WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—In the first-ever matchup between the two oldest universities in the country, Harvard could not rise to the occasion, dropping a tough road tilt to William and Mary, 67-54, on New Year’s Eve.

The Crimson (6-6) struggled from the start to contain the much taller and bigger Tribe (5-6) squad. The team was outrebounded 49-26, outscored in the paint 30-14, and outplayed by a much larger lineup.

Returning from mononucleosis, which had sidelined him since the Dec. 10 game against Northeastern, freshman Keith Wright fought hard in front of his family and friends, but was obviously struggling the entire time. The Suffolk, Va., native finished with four points on 2-of-8 shooting, leaving the Crimson weak down low.

It was too much for Harvard to overcome.

“We have to guard our paint better,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We got to have our post players play bigger, but it was hard, with Keith Wright coming back having missed a couple of games…but we can play better than we did this afternoon from an interior standpoint.”

One bright spot for the Crimson was the play of junior Dan McGeary, who keyed a late comeback in the second half with his hot shooting. The junior finished with 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting from downtown.

The run started with Harvard trailing William and Mary 42-33 with 12 minutes to play. The Crimson needed a spark, and McGeary was the one to give it to the team. In a span of just over four minutes, McGeary knocked down three trifectas, with the final one coming as he fell to the ground. He lifted himself and then Harvard up, 48-47, following a 15-5 run with 6:46 to play.

“The last couple of games, we’ve played some teams with zone defenses,” McGeary said. “Today, I was helped by a couple of guys—Oliver [McNally] and Max [Kenyi]—driving and kicking it out.”

While Wright failed to get back in sync, fellow freshman Max Kenyi finally seemed to hit his stride. Inconsistent all year, Kenyi had a good outing, pacing the Crimson offensive attack until McGeary caught fire. And with junior standout Jeremy Lin struggling mightily in going 3-of-12 from the field, Kenyi’s play kept Harvard in it.

Without production from Lin, however, the Crimson could not recover.

After regaining the lead with 6:46 to play, Harvard went cold, tallying only six points to close out the game.

“We had some deflating plays that hurt us when they were making their strong runs,” Amaker said.

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.