NOTEBOOK: In Career Finale, Havard Seniors Stop Skid, Salvage Season’s Last Win

It didn’t take long for Harvard’s three seniors to establish that Saturday night belonged to them.

Following an emotional pre-game ceremony that honored the contributions of the graduating players, the Crimson came out with its strongest start in over a month, keyed by the efforts of captain Matt Stehle, swingman Mike Beal and forward Zach Martin in the trio’s last game in crimson and white.

Stehle kicked off Harvard’s scoring against Columbia with a jump shot on a feed from Martin, who started at small forward for the second time this season. Stehle returned the favor with assists on two straight Martin three-pointers. Senior swingman Mike Beal added a steal and a lay-up off another feed from Stehle, and who in turn finished off the opening spurt with an interior basket that put Harvard up 18-6.

The Crimson, which jumped out to its first halftime lead in 10 games, looked more like the team that had begun the year 12-6 and 4-1 in league play than the one coming off its second straight 27-point loss and eighth in a row overall. Determined not to let the skid extend any further, Harvard recognized its three seniors before the game and then held off a second-half comeback by the Lions to send the graduates out on a positive note.

“It was a very emotional night for everybody,” Beal said. “We were just really disappointed with the way we’d been playing. At least we can leave with our heads high, [although] it still doesn’t take away the sting of what happened, in terms of the failed promise that we had.”

The Crimson was able to win the final game of the season for the first time since 2001, and in the process kept itself from finishing last in the Ivy League. Harvard ended the year with a 13-14 overall record, its best since the 2001-02 season.

“As seniors, you definitely want to go out and usher the guys into the next year on a high note, get them ready for the spring and keep this thing moving in the right direction,” Stehle said.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNES

Getting back in the win column coincided for the Crimson with a significant improvement from beyond the arc. The team struggled badly during the losing streak with both hitting and defending the three-point shot, but on Saturday night accomplished both tasks, going 8-of-20 from behind the line and holding Columbia to 6-of-24 shooting.

Besides Martin’s two threes and another from Beal, junior shooting guard Jim Goffredo hit on 5-of-9 attempts from behind the arc, finishing with a game-high 22 points. It was his highest scoring output and most three-point makes since Harvard’s win at Brown in January, in which Goffredo scored 30.

“It was good to see him go off—he’s really the reason we were able to win tonight,” Stehle said. “We got him some open looks finally, and once he gets it going he can hit shots with guys draped all over him.”

The Lions entered the weekend shooting a league-best .375 from three-point range while holding opponents to .351 shooting. While freshman K.J. Matsui hit two of his three attempts, the rest of the team was just 4-of-21.

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