Harvard Struggles From the Stripe

BRIDGEPORT, Conn.—It’s easy to win when it’s practically free.

Fairfield (5-4, 2-0 MAAC) attempted a whopping 32 free throws last night and successfully converted 27 of them. The Stags scored more points in the second half from the line (16) than they did from the field (15) en route to the 68-53 win.

Harvard (2-6, 0-0 Ivy) only made it to the line 16 times and netted just half of its attempts. Junior forward Matt Stehle was responsible for 11 of the chances from the charity stripe but only made four.

“Winning on the road means getting the field-goal percentage defense down, minimizing fouling...and capitalizing on every attempt you have to help yourself from the free-throw line,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “Obviously, that was problematic for us tonight.”

The 8-of-16 performance from the free-throw line was the Crimson’s worst showing of the season and marked the second time this year that Harvard failed to hit at least 55 percent of its opportunities from the stripe.

APPLE TURNOVER

The Crimson turned the ball over 22 times on the evening—the fourth time this season that Harvard has reached the 20-coughup plateau.

“Turnovers have always been an issue for us,” Sullivan said. “We couldn’t take care of the basketball when we needed to do it.”

Leading 12-9 with 14:45 left in the first half, the Crimson proceeded to commit five turnovers within the next three minutes, as the Stags put together a 10-0 run—one from which Harvard would never fully recover.

“They created a lot of turnovers with their press, and it was really tough to get the ball up the court,” captain Jason Norman said.

The Crimson has given the ball away at least 18 times in every game this season and has only completed one contest with an assist-to-turnover ratio above one.

Senior point guard David Giovacchini tied for the team lead in turnovers with five, but registered a career-high in assists with seven—accounting for over half of Harvard’s 13 helpers on the game.

“He’s certainly plugging along,” Sullivan said.

“He’s done an outstanding job. He reacted to the pressure very well tonight and found good driving lanes,” he added.

Giovacchini also added 10 points, breaking double-digits in scoring for the third time in the last four contests.

THAT GAI

The explosion that Fairfield had been waiting for all season finally occurred.

After recording just one double-double all season—a 12-point, 12-rebound performance against Elon—Stags forward Deng Gai tore apart the Harvard defense, scoring 23 points and pulling down 13 boards, both season-highs.

“He’s very difficult to guard in the low post because of his quickness,” Sullivan said. “He can also get offensive rebound tip-ins real well. He was certainly a problem for us.”

The 6’9 senior, a native of Sudan, also blocked six Crimson shots, tied for his second-best performance of the season.

“We knew he was a big shot blocker,” Norman said. “We knew he could jump out of the gym...He’s just a complete player, so that was going to be a tough matchup.”

Gai recorded 12 of his 16 first-half points during Fairfield’s 28-7 run that consumed 10 minutes of the first half.

Gai, a preseason first-team All-MAAC selection, declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft last spring, but withdrew a week before the draft took place.

BOARDED UP

For the fifth consecutive game—and the seventh time in eight tries all season—Harvard won the rebounding battle, as the Crimson pulled down 47 boards to Fairfield’s 35.

Harvard recorded 20 of its boards at the offensive end, nearly outrebounding the Stags at that end of the floor.

“We missed a lot of shots,” Norman said of the offensive rebounding effort.

Leading the way for the Crimson was sophomore center Brian Cusworth, who pulled down 13 boards, which tied his career-high.

Stehle also pitched in on the glass, collecting nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.