M. Basketball Tops Brown, Sweeps Weekend

Harvard’s seniors exited Lavietes Pavilion for the last time Saturday night with more than just memories to hold on to.

By beating Brown 80-68 on Senior Night, the Crimson (12-13, 7-5 Ivy) swept its first Ivy League weekend series since the 2002 season.

“We just played hard all weekend,” captain Jason Norman said. “It feels great to finally get a sweep.”

With its seventh league win, Harvard also guaranteed at least a .500 Ivy finish for the first time in three years, and completed back-to-back double-digit wins over Yale and Brown (10-15, 3-8) for the first time since 1999.

“It’s a big testament to what this team has done,” said senior point guard David Giovacchini. “Being 4-23 last year to going where we are now, that’s a big step...A lot of guys deserve a lot of credit.”

Beginning with the pregame ceremony—when the Harvard seniors were honored along with their families at center court—the Crimson seemed supremely confident and focused on its goal. Right off the opening tap, senior guard Kevin Rogus nailed a three-pointer. Harvard never looked back, holding the lead wire-to-wire.

“It was real big for [the seniors] to finish out strong at home,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “They continue to believe not only that they can win every game...but that they can withstand any trials that happen in the game.”

The Crimson faced just such a trial early in the second half in the form of Brown guard Jason Forte, the defending Ivy League Player of the Year. Harvard scored six straight points out of the break to take a 39-26 lead, but the Bears’ star guard quickly hit his offensive stride. On a remarkable coast-to-coast drive from Forte with 15:59 remaining, Brown cut the lead to 41-39, threatening to spoil the good feeling of the evening.

“Forte can take over any game in this league,” Sullivan said. “He almost did it...[We started] to go to radical emergency action just to get the ball out of his hands.”

Forte had only five points on 1-of-5 shooting at halftime, and Harvard held a 33-26 lead. After the intermission, however, the senior guard began displaying his explosive athleticism, slashing to the hoop to draw repeated contact. Forte scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.

“He’s a great player,” Norman said. “I did okay [guarding Forte in] the first half. The second half he was getting to the basket [and] I needed some help.”

Norman was picked up by Harvard’s two big men. Junior center Brian Cusworth and junior forward Matt Stehle scored the team’s next seven points to give Harvard some breathing room, and the Crimson extended its lead back out to 60-48 with 8:05 remaining.

Brown stayed within striking distance by turning the game into a foul-shooting contest. The Bears shot 17-of-18 from the stripe in the second half as a team, led by forward Sam Manhanga’s perfect 8-for-8 effort. Manhanga’s last two shots from the line pulled Brown within five, 72-67, with 1:27 left. Harvard turned in a stellar performance from the line as well, and hit 6-of-6 from the stripe down the stretch to put the Bears away. Harvard made a season high 27-of-30 attempts from the line, 21 of which came in the second half.

“We were fortunate ourselves that we got to the free throw line,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know the last time we got 90 percent from the line...Not only did we get volume, we made our shots.”

Cusworth, who scored 19 points, paced Harvard on offense for the second-straight night. Stehle notched his ninth double-double of the season, scoring 16 points to go along with a game-high 13 boards and six assists.

Harvard’s frontcourt exploited the Bears’ lack of size and experience on the interior, just as it had in the last game against Brown. Cusworth and Stehle combined to shoot 10-of-14 from the field and 14-of-15 from the line.

“[Cusworth] is still learning to find his comfort zone near the rim...He’s making great progress,” Sullivan said. “He’s gotten some good looks the last couple nights.”

Giovacchini added nine points and a career-high nine rebounds for Harvard, while Rogus had 11 points.

“It’s tough to imagine not playing basketball again,” Rogus said. “But to go out the way we did...I’m happy to leave on this note.”

For Harvard’s seniors—Norman, Rogus, Giovacchini, and center Graham Beatty, who started and played in his 105th straight game—the win was the culmination of four years of work.

“They are the guts of the program,” Sullivan said. “It means so much to watch them walk out of here tonight with their heads up.”

Harvard swept the season series with Brown for the first time since 1999. The team now heads south for the final weekend of the season, traveling to Princeton on Friday and Penn on Saturday.

—Staff writer Caleb W. Peiffer can be reached at cpeiffer@fas.harvard.edu.