M. Hoops Runs Out of Miracles

Junior point guard Pat Harvey is the Harvard men’s basketball team’s “Mr. Clutch,” but even he can only do so much. Harvey led the Crimson to a miraculous comeback in the final minute against Columbia Friday night, but two buzzer-beaters in two nights was too much to ask for.

Harvard (12-8, 5-3 Ivy League) took the first leg of its weekend road trip, 55-52, over the Lions (10-12, 3-5) Friday night on Harvey’s three-pointer at the buzzer. The next night, however, the Crimson fell 63-62 to Ivy doormat Cornell (4-17, 1-7) and significantly hurt its chances for an Ivy title run.

“It was a major let-down on Saturday night,” junior point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman said. “We’ve reset our goals to win each game [from now on].”

Cornell 63, Harvard 62

The Big Red snapped its seven-game losing streak at the expense of the Crimson, who was riding high after the previous night’s exciting finish in New York. Cornell came out with more intensity and energy, jumping out to a quick 14-4 lead in a sloppy offensive game. By halftime, the Big Red had kept Harvard at bay, leading 34-26.

Though the Crimson picked up the first four points of the second period, Cornell opened up its largest lead of the game at 43-32. The Big Red relied on the offense of guards Wallace Prather and Steve Cobb, who had 17 and 18 points on the night, respectively.

Harvard, as has been the case most of this season, immediately responded with a 14-2 run. Prasse-Freeman’s trey cut the score to 45-43 with ten minutes left, and then Harvey nailed another three-pointer to give the Crimson its first lead of the game.

The one-point edge was short-lived, however, as Cornell scored three straight buckets to regain momentum.

With two minutes left in the game and Cornell clinging to a three-point lead, Prather scored four straight points to make the score 61-54. Harvard employed its oft-successful full-court press and managed to crawl within two points with 20 seconds to go.

But the Crimson missed three straight shots at tying the game, and Cornell converted two free throws.

Still, Harvey was able to nail his fifth three-pointer of the game with 7.8 seconds left to cut the lead to 63-62. Prather was then intentionally fouled, but missed two straight free throws.

Harvey got off a 30-foot jumper at the buzzer, but the magic of the night before was not to be relived, as the shot missed.

“It was rough,” junior forward Sam Winter said. “The way we played...if we could have played that bad and pulled out the win, it would have been something to come away with.”

Harvard shot only 35 percent from the field in Ithaca, though Harvey hit five of eleven three-pointers to finish with 25 points. Senior center Tim Coleman added 17 points and 15 rebounds.

HARVARD 55, COLUMBIA 52

If Harvard was going to drop one contest on last weekend’s road trip, it was assumed the Crimson would falter in New York City against the Lions, who had yet to lose at Levien Gym this year.

Columbia had also just come off a big upset win against Penn the weekend before, while Harvard had to shrug off a loss to Yale at home. However, several players on both teams were battling the flu, and Columbia senior guard Derrick Mayo of the Lions was out with a broken foot.

Columbia’s slow, Princeton-style offense limited possessions on either side of the ball, and each team’s lackluster shooting led to a first-half stalemate at 24-24.

The Lions took the lead in the second half, led by reigning Ivy Player of the Year Craig Austin, who finished with 15 points. Columbia had its largest lead of the game, 44-36, with just over six minutes remaining.

Harvard’s pressure defense once again got the Crimson back in the game, though the Crimson blew several early chances to tie the game. Captain Drew Gellert missed a pair of free throws with Harvard down by two, and a minute later, Prasse-Freeman airballed a three-pointer that would have tied the score as well.

But the Crimson was a given a second life down the stretch. Columbia’s Victor Munoz suffered a case of the nerves, and with two minutes left he missed two key free throws that would have given the Lions a five-point lead.

Harvey then came down the other end to hit a three-pointer and tie the game. After another Columbia score, Harvey hit a pretty left-handed layup to tie it at 52-52.

Controversy ensued near the end when Columbia’s Chris Wiedemann dunked the ball with eight seconds remaining, with both Wiedemann and the home crowd believing he had given the Lions the lead. Instead, the officiating crew called an offensive foul on Wiedemann, saying that Harvey had taken a charge.

The dunk ended up being irrelevant, as Harvard drew up an out-of-bounds play and got the ball to Harvey as time wound down. He launched a three-pointer as time expired. The ball carromed off the rim, and then landed in.

“Harvey stepped up on his own,” said Winter, when asked if the Crimson had purposely gone to Harvey down the stretch. “The last play of the game, though—we drew that up.”

Harvard’s amazing victory, and the heroics of Harvey—who finished with 18 points—put the Crimson temporarily in control of its own destiny in the Ivy race, but with Saturday’s loss at Cornell, things are more complicated. The Crimson currently sit tied for third place with a 5-3 record, behind Yale and Princeton. Each of those two teams have only one league loss.

“We owe it to ourselves and our season to bring it,” Prasse-Freeman said.

Harvard goes on the road again for a double-dip with Penn and Princeton this coming weekend.