Buzzer Beater Lifts M. Hoopsters

CHESTNUT HILL--Sophomore forward Dan Clemente got to play in last night's season opener for the men's basketball team, and that's not even the top story.

Senior shooting guard Mike Beam ended a game with more subplots than a drugstore romance novel with a three-pointer over Boston College guard Clayton Sims as time expired and the Harvard men's basketball team posted a shocking 62-61 victory before 1,829 at Conte Forum. HARVARD  62 BOSTON COLLEGE  61

"It was kind of a tough shot," Beam said. "The guy was right in my face. But you can kind of tell when it leaves your fingers if it's going to be a good one or not, and it felt good."

Leading 61-59 with five seconds remaining, Eagles forward Johnathan Beerbohm stepped to the free throw line for the second of two attempts.

Beerbohm's shot bounced off the back of the rim and fell off to the low post on the left side, where sophomore forward Tim Coleman snatched the rebound. With no timeouts remaining, Coleman turned and whipped an outlet pass to senior point guard Tim Hill near the half-court line.

Hill dribbled to his left across the time line up the left wing, penetrated inside the three-point arc and momentarily drew Sims off Beam.

Hill then dished to Beam behind him, who beat Sim's desperation lunge and drained his fourth three-point bucket of the evening. Beam's trey gave the Crimson its first win over B.C. since 1979.

"I was initially looking to shoot," Hill said. "Then I realized that we had two-on-two on the left wing. I penetrated a little bit, Mike's man bit, and I kicked it back to Mike for the open shot. That's a shot we've been running all preseason."

Beam finished 4-of-10 from the floor, but made 4-of-9 from distance and ended up with a team-high 12 points. Hill added 11 points and seven assists while committing only one turnover.

Beam's game-winner capped a 13-4 Harvard run over the final 2:39, which included a three-pointer from surprise contributor Clemente that cut the deficit to 60-59 with 10 seconds to play.

Clemente was diagnosed last month with a degenerative ankle condition and was expected to miss the season as he underwent reconstructive surgery.

Although Clemente still will require that surgery, a New York expert earlier this week cleared him to play. Clemente worked out lightly Tuesday afternoon and participated in last night's shootaround before entering the game for the first time with 6:30 remaining.

"It was a very interesting scenario," said Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan. "He hasn't practiced at all. He came to practice yesterday and just shot around. But all along, the thing that never left him was his shot. He didn't have the wind, he probably didn't know half of the plays, but he still had that shot."

As Sullivan said, Clemente looked predictably shaky running the offensive sets, but his shooting touch was golden, as he made 2-of-3 from three-point range in just four minutes of action and finished with six points.

Harvard began its comeback down 57-49 with 2:54 to play. Captain Paul Fisher drew a foul at the low post on a putback of his own miss, but the center could not convert either free throw attempt.

And then a little something broke the Crimson's way.

As Coleman crashed the boards off Fisher's miss, he elevated and appeared inadvertently to punch the loose ball up in the air. Miraculously, the shot found the bottom of the net and Harvard was back in business.

Fisher--who finished with 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added nine rebounds--caught his last of several bad breaks on the ensuing possession. Fisher stripped B.C. guard Dwayne Pina at the top of the key but lost control of the ball and was forced to chase it. Tangling with Pina as the two skidded out of bounds, Fisher was whistled for his fifth personal and the Eagles went into the double-bonus.

Pina made both free throws, but Beam took a cross-court pass from freshman guard Patrick Harvey two possessions later and drilled a three-pointer from the right wing to close to 59-54.

And it was at that point that the Eagles gave up the ghost. Senior forward Bill Ewing snatched an airball in the lane then drew a foul and coolly made both ends of a one-and-one to pull to 59-56 with 1:30 remaining.

The Eagles then switched to a ball-control offense but were unable to generate quality looks and managed only 2-of-4 from the charity stripe when the Crimson was forced to foul.

"I thought we were very tentative," Skinner said. "We played passively, and we just can't do that. Harvard stayed aggressive and we didn't."

Clemente's second three-pointer of the night, a neat head-fake swish from the left wing, shaved the lead to 60-59 with 10 seconds to play and set up Beam's buzzer-beater.

"I told Dan, 'Just in case we need a shot in the end, stay ready,'" Sullivan said. "'You remember 11, don't you?' That's the play we ran when he was in there, which he remembered from last year."

B.C. looked strong out of the blocks, bearing little resemblance to the squad that dropped a 70-49 laugher to Marquette in its opener four days ago.

The Eagles shot 14-of-29 in the first half, including 6-of-11 from distance en route to a 34-24 halftime lead.

Sims made all three of his three-point attempts in the first half and scored 11 but struggled in the second half, finishing with a game-high 15. Beerbohm shot 4-of-8 and chipped in 12 for the game.

The Crimson converted from its traditional pressure defense to more zone looks in the second half.

"We went into the game thinking `Make them shoot the ball,'" Sullivan said. "They proved they could shoot the ball. They looked much more controlled than in the Marquette game. We tried to challenge them to make shots, and they did."

B.C. managed to hit 43 percent from the field and also outrebounded the Crimson 38-31, but the difference seemed to be Harvard's renewed effectiveness in generating points from its half-court sets rather than exclusively from transition. HARVARD, 62-61 at Conte Forum Harvard  24  38  --  62 Boston College  34  27  --  61

HARVARD: Long 2-7 0-0 4; Coleman 4-7 0-0 8; Fisher 5-10 0-4 10; Hill 5-14 1-1 11; Beam 4-10 0-0 12; Gellert 0-3 0-0 0; Clemente 2-4 0-0 6; Harvey 3-4 0-0 7; Ewing 1-1 2-2 4. TOTALS 26-60 3-7 62.

BOSTON COLLEGE: Cotton 1-3 0-0 3; Harley 3-11 2-4 9; Beerbohm 4-8 3-4 12; Pina 1-3 3-4 5; Sims 6-9 0-1 15; Walls 1-4 1-2 4; Millar 4-8 1-1 9; Deane 0-0 0-0; Ross 2-5 0-0 4. TOTALS: 22-51 10-16 61.

HARVARD: Long 2-7 0-0 4; Coleman 4-7 0-0 8; Fisher 5-10 0-4 10; Hill 5-14 1-1 11; Beam 4-10 0-0 12; Gellert 0-3 0-0 0; Clemente 2-4 0-0 6; Harvey 3-4 0-0 7; Ewing 1-1 2-2 4. TOTALS 26-60 3-7 62.

BOSTON COLLEGE: Cotton 1-3 0-0 3; Harley 3-11 2-4 9; Beerbohm 4-8 3-4 12; Pina 1-3 3-4 5; Sims 6-9 0-1 15; Walls 1-4 1-2 4; Millar 4-8 1-1 9; Deane 0-0 0-0; Ross 2-5 0-0 4. TOTALS: 22-51 10-16 61.