Men's Cagers Zapped by Terriers in Second Half

As any coach will tell you, the way to beat a pressing team is to take care of the basketball and make the opponent pay by earning easy baskets in transition.

The Harvard men's basketball team did neither of these things as it fell in the face of Boston University's fierce second half pressure, 80-72, last night at Lavietes Pavillion.

The Crimson (4-2, 0-0 Ivy) looked strong early, taking a 10 point lead into halftime behind a 5-5 shooting performance by sophomore reserve guard Mike Beam. In the second half, however, it was the Terriers' athleticism and pressure that made the difference.

B.U. (5-1) instituted a full court press to open the second half, and with it the Terriers forced 10 second-half turnovers and disrupted a Crimson offense that seemed unable to get any good looks at the basket.

"The pressure bothered us...a lot," Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. "It really disrupted our flow on offense."

Terrier senior forward Tunji Awojobi, a pre-season All-American candidate, was a huge force in B.U.'s second half charge. Awojobi was held to only six points and two rebounds in the first half as the Crimson effectively doubled-teamed him whenever he touched the ball, keeping him out of the offensive flow.

In the second period, however, Awojobi could not be contained, scoring 17 second-half points and finishing with 23. Awojobi also added nine rebounds on the game, and reached the 1,000 rebound mark for his career at 4:49 in the first half.

"Tunji rose above the rest tonight," Sullivan said. "He was the consummate fighter."

Awojobi himself credits the team, and the press as the catalysts of the comeback, rather than any individual effort.

"We came together in the second half...[and] executed our games. The press was a spark to our flow in the game," Awojobi said.

In addition to difficulty handling the press and tentative play by the Crimson's four platooning guards, Harvard also suffered from a lack of height that gave it trouble holding its own on the inside as the game progressed.

"Their height gave them an advantage inside,... and we had trouble communicating [against the press] in the second half," sophomore guard Tim Hill said summing up the team's second-half woes.

Defensively, Harvard also had trouble communicating as B.U.'s ball picks freed Terrier players for layups throughout the second half.

"The pressure made the team have defensive lapses as well," Hill said.

The Crimson stayed within striking distance throughout much of the second half with the aid of poor free throw shooting by the Terriers (13/22). Harvard's offense, however, consisted almost solely of the three-point shot, and B.U. effectively denied the ball from the hot-handed Beam. Harvard got no easy points, either, scoring only two points in the paint in the first 18 minutes of the second half.

Despite giving credit to the Terriers and Awojobi, Sullivan was troubled with his team's performance in the second half.

"It's disconcerting [to see] the pressure break down our team," Sullivan said.

The game featured a few bright spots for the Crimson, especially in the first half. Hill played 40 minutes at point guard, committed only three turnovers and quietly added 12 points in a solid effort for the Crimson.

Beam looked like the real thing from the perimeter, shooting 6-7 from the field for 13 points, including a three point basket. In the second half, he found no open shots and appeared tentative with the ball against the press and so played sparingly in the final 10 minutes.

Senior Kyle Snowden, who led the team with 11 rebounds, was very effective defensively against Awojobi in the first half, before foul trouble robbed the Crimson of its muscle on the post.

"Snowden really did a good job on [Awojobi]. Once we got into foul trouble it really put us back on our heels," Sullivan said.

Senior Chris Grancio, who also played solid defense on the post for the Crimson, paced the team with 20 points on 7-18 shooting. Boston U.  80 Harvard  72

BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 80-72 at Briggs Cage Boston U.  29  51  --  80 Harvard  39  33  --  72

B.U.: Folk 4-7 2-2 11, Costello 3-7 0-0 7, Schwartz 6-11 5-8 19, Beard 5-6 0-2 10, Awojobi 9-14 5-7 23, Beal 2-5 0-0 5, Fearrington 0-2 1-3 1, Delayeffitte 2-2 0-0 4, Avebe 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 31-54 13-22 80.

HARVARD: Hill 4-12 2-2 12, Demian 1-3 0-0 2, Scott 2-3 0-0 4, Snowden 5-12 3-4 13, Grancio 7-18 4-7 20, Weaver 1-5 3-4 6, Beam 6-7 0-0 13, Ewing 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 27-61 12-17 72.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 80-72 at Briggs Cage Boston U.  29  51  --  80 Harvard  39  33  --  72

B.U.: Folk 4-7 2-2 11, Costello 3-7 0-0 7, Schwartz 6-11 5-8 19, Beard 5-6 0-2 10, Awojobi 9-14 5-7 23, Beal 2-5 0-0 5, Fearrington 0-2 1-3 1, Delayeffitte 2-2 0-0 4, Avebe 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 31-54 13-22 80.

HARVARD: Hill 4-12 2-2 12, Demian 1-3 0-0 2, Scott 2-3 0-0 4, Snowden 5-12 3-4 13, Grancio 7-18 4-7 20, Weaver 1-5 3-4 6, Beam 6-7 0-0 13, Ewing 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 27-61 12-17 72.

B.U.: Folk 4-7 2-2 11, Costello 3-7 0-0 7, Schwartz 6-11 5-8 19, Beard 5-6 0-2 10, Awojobi 9-14 5-7 23, Beal 2-5 0-0 5, Fearrington 0-2 1-3 1, Delayeffitte 2-2 0-0 4, Avebe 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 31-54 13-22 80.

HARVARD: Hill 4-12 2-2 12, Demian 1-3 0-0 2, Scott 2-3 0-0 4, Snowden 5-12 3-4 13, Grancio 7-18 4-7 20, Weaver 1-5 3-4 6, Beam 6-7 0-0 13, Ewing 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 27-61 12-17 72.