Harvard Rolls Against Raiders

Fresh off a rout of Dartmouth that started the Ivy season, the Harvard men’s basketball team stayed hot as it pulled away from Colgate at Lavietes Pavilion, coming away with a 77-57 win and wrapping up its non-conference schedule.

Strong runs at the end of the first half and mid-way through the second were key as the Raiders (8-6) became the second straight team to fall to the Crimson (6-11, 1-0 Ivy) by more than 20 points, following the home team’s 82-56 win over the Big Green on Saturday.

“It was a very solid team effort,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “You’ve seen a couple of games now for us where we have put together a 40-minute game. We’re playing with a great deal of confidence. I like the hustle and energy we’re playing with on defense. It seems in the last couple of games we are able to wear some people down, get a margin, get a lead, and then finish.”

With the Crimson down 24-20 midway through the first half, Harvard put the clamps on defensively and outscored the visitors 15-3 over the last parts of the half. Captain forward Brad Unger began the run with a three-pointer off a pass from sophomore guard Jeremy Lin to pull the team within one. Four minutes later, following a free throw by Colgate, junior guard Drew Housman hit a three-pointer, giving his team a lead it wouldn’t give up.

On the next possession, Housman and junior guard Andrew Pusar both missed lay-ups, but sophomore forward Pat Magnarelli was there to back them up, laying home the put-back. Unger and Magnarelli each hit a pair of free throws to close out the half.

“The beginning of the game, they looked like they were a little bit hungrier than us,” Magnarelli said. “They pushed us around a little bit so it took us a while to get settled. The last two to three minutes of the half, we came out firing, so it was good to get that eight-point lead going into halftime.”

With the team up 35-27 at the break, the Crimson got a lucky bounce early on in the second half to start its run.

Freshman guard T.J. Carey drove for a lay-up attempt that was emphatically swatted away by Raider center Alex Woodhouse. Fortunately for the home team, he swatted it right to Pusar at the three-point line, who nailed the open shot.

The visitors wouldn’t go away and cut the lead down to six at 44-38 with 14:45 remaining off a bank-shot by guard Kyle Roemer, but the home team responded with an 11-0 run. Housman hit two free throws to start the stretch, then sophomore guard Dan McGeary stole a pass and went in for a fast-break lay-up. Unger followed with a long jumper, then Lin drove to the basket for a lay-up and a foul.

He missed the free throw, but Harvard would come back as Housman hit his second three of the game to cap the run, making the score 55-38 with 11 minutes left.

The Crimson defense was crucial in making the runs and holding the lead. Colgate made just 11-of-31 shots in the second half as Harvard pulled away.

“Everyone is capable of shutting their own man down and I think it was a matter of putting ourselves out there and embracing the whole idea of team defense,” Lin said.

Magnarelli led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Lin was second with 17 points and eight rebounds and led the team with five assists.

Roemer led the Raiders with 19 points and, with his team down 64-53 with just over five minutes to play, had a chance to pull his team within eight as he attempted a three-pointer.

But the shot misfired and Housman beat Colgate to the ball, calling a timeout just before his opponents took the ball from him.

On the next possession, Unger found Magnarelli for a lay-up and a foul, and the high-scorer hit the free throw, putting his team up 14 and the game wouldn’t be closer than that margin after that.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.