NOTEBOOK: Crimson Effort Pays Dividends Once Again

PHILADELPHIA—On Friday night, Harvard was able at long last to shake off the sedative effects of two crushing last-second losses.

Whether due to wounded pride over eight straight losses to Penn, the inspiring atmosphere of The Palestra, or the realization that a once-promising season is nearly over, the Crimson fought back after a lackluster effort two weekends ago at home versus Brown and Yale.

Its inspired play, however, was not enough to top the league’s leader in an extremely physical battle.

The Crimson was unable to snap the five-game skid that began with heartbreaking final-play losses to Cornell and Princeton, as Penn prevailed, 74-71, in what became a war of attrition at The Palestra.

The combative nature of the Quakers’ overtime victory was quickly established. Only 12 total fouls were called in the first half, as the referees let the two rivals settle their feud the old-fashioned way.

“The referees from the outset were going to let the guys play,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “Our guys wanted to get into debate. There [wasn’t] going to be debate. They let the kids play, and it wound up being a terrific basketball game.”

The pugnacious style manifested itself in the multiple casualties that amounted. Penn forward Friedrich Ebede was fouled hard by captain Matt Stehle on a breakaway late in the first half, sending him to the floor and later to the bench, where he remained for the entire second half. Starting forward Steve Danley, charged with guarding 7’0 senior center Brian Cusworth, injured his nose shortly after the break and was forced to the bench for the rest of the game.

Those two losses left the Quakers short-staffed on the interior. Cusworth was able to step up to exploit that weakness, compiling a career-high 16 rebounds, 13 in the second half, to go along with 22 points and three blocked shots. On the Penn side, however, forward Mark Zoller compensated with career-highs of 18 rebounds and five blocks.

“Those two guys are bruisers,” Zoller said of Stehle and Cusworth. “They get on the glass, as well as [senior swingman Mike] Beal. I was just trying to keep them off the glass a little bit.”

Zoller picked up four offensive boards in the second half, the biggest of which came with three minutes left in overtime, when he corralled a miss over Cusworth and Stehle and put back a lay-up to tie the score at 64. A minute later, he drew a loose-ball foul on Cusworth in the fight for a defensive rebound and sunk two free throws to expand the lead to 69-66.

Even so, after Cusworth layed in Stehle’s miss on the next possession, Harvard was down just one with 1:34 to play. It was then that Harvard suffered its sole casualty, as Cusworth picked up his fifth foul to send guard Brian Grandieri to the line and deprive the Crimson of the center’s services in the final minute.

All of Cusworth’s fouls were accumulated after halftime, due to officials making more calls with the heightening of tension in the back-and-forth affair.

“I could tell you I don’t think I really had five fouls,” Cusworth said. “I think I had less than that if you really counted them.”

Penn, which entered the game averaging 18-and-a-half attempts from the free throw line during the Ivy season, made 26 trips and converted 17 on the game. Harvard, normally adept at getting to the line more than its opponent, had just 12 attempts on the game.

“We did have to play through a lot of non-calls, I thought,” freshman point guard Drew Housman said. “I think we handled adversity really well. Instead of complaining, we just kept fighting through it.”

Despite the disparity in chances, the Crimson, which leads the league in free throw percentage, hurt itself by missing five of its 12 shots from the line.

LEARNING CURVE

Housman had perhaps the toughest assignment of any Harvard player: directing the offense while being guarded by Penn’s Ibrahim Jaaber, one of the best defensive players in the nation. In Harvard’s first game against Penn in Cambridge, Housman struggled to get past the long-armed thief, turning the ball over nine times in the 81-68 loss. On Friday, Housman had just two turnovers in a season-high 42 minutes of play.

“[Jaaber] was trying to read my dribble moves, so I tried to keep it in my right hand, my dominant hand a little more, and not do as much crossing over as I’m used to,” Housman said. “I think it kind of caught him off guard, because he’s used to guys crossing over right in front of him where he can steal it.”

Housman also had four assists, and added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, his best percentage of the season. He hit both of his three-point attempts, including a crucial shot with two minutes remaining in regulation that cut Penn’s lead down to 60-59.

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