Harvard Ekes Out Close Victory Over League-Leading Cornell in Season’s Final Home Game

With the crowd roaring for defense and the home team up by one, it was up to the Crimson (13-13, 5-7 Ivy) to come up with a stop against the defiant Big Red (19-9, 9-3).

Cornell junior Ryan Wittman shot the ball with less than ten seconds to play, but Harvard junior Jeremy Lin made it hard for him to get a good look. The ball bounced off the rim and headed towards the stands when Wittman recovered the rebound, calling for a controversial time out as he fell out of bounds.

“We didn’t want to do anything that was going to bail them out,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We wanted no silly fouls or anything like that.”

The Big Red then had 3.9 seconds left to take a final shot. Cornell inbounded the ball to guard Louis Dale, who drove straight into Crimson freshman Keith Wright, trying to draw contact. Wright, however, swatted the ball away as the clock wound down, giving Harvard its second straight victory this weekend, by a final score of 71-70.

“We kept huddling up and saying that we needed to buckle down,” senior Drew Housman said. “It was great to see that because I personally have lost a lot of games coming down the wire like that in my career, so it was really cool to have one go the other way, especially tonight.”

Seniors Evan Harris, captain Andrew Pusar, and Housman won their final game at home in a close encounter with Cornell that has become typical as of late. The previous two Harvard–Cornell matchups at Lavietes Pavilion have ended by the same one point margin with the teams splitting the pair of contests. This time around it was Harvard taking the win in front of a near-capacity crowd.

The Big Red started out the game strong, racing to an 8-2 lead. But an emphatic dunk by Wright in the 16th minute signaled to Cornell that the Crimson wasn’t going to repeat its lackluster first-half performance in Ithaca two weeks ago. Harvard started chipping away when the score was 19-12 with a clutch three pointer by freshman Oliver McNally followed by a layup from Lin. Housman was then fouled and made both free throws, getting Harvard within striking distance.

Cornell tried to pull away, scoring two baskets, but freshman Peter Boehm responded with a three pointer. The Big Red wasted another possession to keep the Crimson at bay, and Lin made them pay, giving Harvard its first lead of the game at 27-26 with a trey from long distance. But Cornell ended up finishing the last three and a half minutes of the half on a 7-3 run, taking back the lead.

It was all Crimson from the beginning of the second half, with the team flexing its offensive muscle with a 14-3 run. But Wittman had other plans, keeping the Big Red in the game and giving it a brief 55-54 lead with two three pointers and jumper. Harvard responded with a layup from Pusar, and the two teams continued trading baskets throughout the rest of the half. Free throw shooting proved to be key in the final stretch, with the Crimson going 14-for-17 compared to Cornell’s 8-for-14. Cornell shot a measly 56.3 percent from the free throw line for the game.

Housman converted a layup with two minutes left to give Harvard its final basket. Down 71-67, the Big Red attempted to pull out the comeback, led by Wittman once again. He made a jumper and then had a chance to tie the game up after getting fouled by Wright.

Wittman made his first free throw, but couldn’t come through on the second. The Crimson got the ball back, but it wasted a final opportunity to solidify its lead. Housman ran the clock down and didn’t get off his three-point shot in time, hindered by a feisty Cornell defense. But the Harvard defense came up big, giving the Crimson its third-straight win.

Housman and Lin had strong showings, each tallying 20 points and four assists.

“I just can’t say enough about the way how Housman has played for us over the last few weeks,” Amaker said. “I think he’s been the catalyst for our team. [Cornell] is a very good basketball team, a tough team, and with the way we’ve been playing lately and to win this way, we’re very proud of our kids right now.”