Crimson Escapes Wildcats

Harvard men’s basketball leading scorer Drew Housman did not start against the University of New Hampshire last night in Lavietes Pavilion, was held scoreless for over 27 minutes, and struggled for much of the contest. But with a little over a minute to play, the junior hit the biggest shot of the game.

Up 67-65 with 80 seconds left to play, the Crimson had possession of the ball and was running down the shot clock. With just a few ticks left to shoot, Housman took a pass at the top of the key from sophomore Dan McGeary, got off a quick release, and hit the three-pointer to seal the win. Housman’s 13 points in the final 12 and a half minutes of the game helped Harvard to its third victory of the year.

They were his only points of the game.

“He didn’t play well early,” coach Tommy Amaker said of Housman. “But as the game went on, he stepped it up, and made some big baskets for us, and came and quarterbacked our team as one of our veteran players [should].”

The Crimson (3-4) met the Wildcats (3-2) exactly 364 days after last year’s gripping 83-81 overtime victory. Like the previous encounter, last night’s game was close throughout and included 15 lead changes.

This year’s match-up, however, was a slightly sloppier affair. The two teams combined for 44 turnovers.

“It was a completely different game,” junior Evan Harris said.

Amaker surprised many of those in attendance by changing up his starting lineup for the first time this year. Alongside sophomore Jeremy Lin, McGeary as well as freshmen Kyle Fitzgerald, T.J. Carey, and Adam Demuyakor all got their first career starts for the Crimson.

McGeary, who transferred to Harvard from New Hampshire this year, finished with 11 points against his former squad. Despite six turnovers, McGeary was still an asset against his old teammates, as the hot-shooting guard was 4-for-6 in the game, including shooting 3-for-5 from behind the arc.

After four minutes of play, and with the score tied 5-5, Amaker sent in his usual starters, as Housman, Harris, sophomore Pat Magnarelli, and junior Andrew Pusar joined Lin on the floor.

The Crimson’s best showing of the first half came during a 12-3 run over a four minute span. Down 22-21 with 7:18 to play in the half, Harvard was able to build a 33-25 lead through some strong inside play from Harris. During the run, Harris scored nine points, 5 of which came from the foul line.

“They were just hacking all day,” Harris said of the Wildcats’ big men.

Harris, along with New Hampshire’s Mike Christensen, led all scorers with 18 points. He shot 10-for-12 from the line, significantly higher than his .686 free throw percentage so far this season. Harris also added five steals and four rebounds.

On the night, Harvard shot a season-best 81 percent from the line.

Despite going into the break with a four-point lead, the Crimson had 15 turnovers and never was really able to get its offense into full gear.

Harvard came out slow in the second half and did not score for the first four minutes following the interval.

The momentum moved back and forth, with neither team able to pull away.

With the game on the line, Harvard found itself up 67-65 with 1:46 left, and following a timeout, McGeary was able to pick off a Christensen pass. Just 21 seconds later, Housman hit his three. Over the course of the game, it was clear: as went Housman, so went the Crimson.

As Housman broke out of his offensive slump, Harvard followed suit, with the point guard leading his team down the stretch.

“Housman is a key for us,” Amaker said. “If we’re not getting the kind of play that he is capable of we may not be as good.”

Up against the wall, the team responded, and with a tough Michigan squad on the horizon, Harvard made sure it will go into this much anticipated match-up with momentum on its side.

“We got together as a team,” said Harris. “We said there’s no reason we should lose this game and we took it upon ourselves to step up the energy.”