Men's Basketball Loses Lead, Ends Record Season on Sour Note

The Harvard men’s basketball team’s first postseason run in 61 seasons ended just as quickly as it began.

Playing in the first round of the College Insider.com Postseason Tournament, the Crimson (21-8, 10-4 Ivy) let an early 12-point lead slip away to Appalachian State (23-12, 13-5 Southern), as Harvard fell, 93-71.

“I really can’t explain it,” freshman Brandyn Curry said. “I don’t know what happened. We just didn’t have it tonight. I don’t know what team that was out there. I haven’t seen that team all year.”

Led by guard Donald Sims’ 22 points, the Mountaineers used their superior size and athleticism to keep the Crimson defenders on their heels, as Harvard surrendered more points than in any of its previous contests.

Appalachian State dominated the paint, outrebounding Harvard, 39-25, and coming away with 40 points in the paint compared to the Crimson’s 16.

Sophomore Keith Wright and freshman Kyle Casey, who have anchored Harvard in the post this season, pulled down just one and three boards, respectively. Co-captain Jeremy Lin led the Crimson on the glass once again, finishing with seven rebounds—three more than any of his teammates.

As successful as the Mountaineers were in the paint, they were even more dangerous from the outside.

Five different Appalachian State players connected from deep, and the team finished 12-of-21 from beyond the arc.

Sims led the way, sinking six three-pointers on 11 attempts, including four in the second half, which helped his team grow its lead to 22 points.

But despite the lopsided outcome, Harvard found itself in control for the early pat of the contest.

Behind six points from Casey, the Crimson jumped out to an 8-0 lead just 71 seconds into the contest, forcing Mountaineers’ coach Buzz Peterson to replace all five of his starters.

Fresh legs helped Appalachian State chip away at the Harvard lead, cutting the deficit to three after Andre Williamson’s post move and shot over Wright fell.

But freshman Christian Webster pushed his team’s lead back up.

Webster, who struggled shooting the ball consistently throughout the season, caught fire from deep, scoring the Crimson’s next 13 points to lead Harvard on a 15-6 run—putting the visitors ahead 30-12 with 10:24 left in the first half.

On the possession following Williamson’s bucket, the Crimson nearly lost control of the ball, but freshman Dee Giger deflected it to sophomore Oliver McNally, who swung it to Webster in the corner. Webster nailed the trey as he was fouled.

On Harvard’s next possession, McNally found Webster set up in the same spot on the fast break, where the rookie nailed the deep ball.

Webster found space in the corner once again, this time receiving a pass from Lin and draining the shot.

One possession later, Webster popped out behind the arc at the top of the key and hit his fourth three in under three minutes. Webster would finish with a career-high 24 points on a perfect 6-of-6 mark from deep.

“I just took my shots,” Webster said. “After I saw the first one go in, I just felt confident.”

But things would go downhill quickly for the Crimson.

Harvard scored just seven points over the next 10 minutes of play, as the Mountaineers closed out the half on a 25-7 run.

“They just really dug in with defense and pressure,” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said. “You could just tell how they turned up the pressure.”

Two baskets from Williamson in the paint and deep balls from Sims and Kellen Brand narrowed the Crimson’s lead to two.

But Harvard was able to fend off the home team for some time, extending its lead to seven at 37-30 with 4:27 left.

Then things went from bad to worse.

The Crimson went scoreless for the rest of the half and Appalachian State grabbed the lead for the first time with 1:27 remaining off a coast-to-coast layup from Brand.

Plagued by turnovers and missed shots the rest of the way, Harvard closed the half down by six.

Things would not improve coming out of the break, as the Crimson was never able to get the deficit below six for the remainder of the contest—capping off the most successful Harvard basketball season with a disappointing ending.

“I’m proud of the year we were able to accomplish this season,” Amaker said. “It’s a tough way to end with our seniors, but nonetheless I thought our kids gave great effort—but we ran into a team tonight that played exceptionally well.”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.