Dramatic Comeback Becomes Norm

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Friday night at Brown, it was like déjà vu all over again for the Harvard men’s basketball team.

On its home court exactly two weeks earlier, the Crimson had been stunned by the Bears’ 55-point first half outburst that left Harvard staring at a 22-point halftime deficit. But after an inspirational speech by coach Tommy Amaker, the Crimson came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, mounting the fourth largest comeback in NCAA history in its 85-78 win.

At home Friday evening, Brown came out hot again, shooting 57.1 percent from the field in the first period en route to a 41-30 lead. But history tends to repeat itself, and it did on Friday, as the Crimson dominated the second half again and finished off the Bears, 74-68.

“We showed our heart, there’s no question about it,” Amaker said.

The tides turned on an 18-6 Harvard run to start the second period, which pushed Harvard into the lead.

Brown started the half with two turnovers, and junior co-captain Keith Wright and sophomore Kyle Casey made the Bears pay with layups on the other end.

The teams traded baskets for a few minutes until Crimson freshman Laurent Rivard drilled a three to cut the lead to 45-41 with 14:46 to play. The Bears’ Peter Sullivan responded with a layup on the other end, but Harvard sophomore Brandyn Curry drilled a three from the top of the key to bring the Crimson within 47-44.

After two free-throws by sophomore Christian Webster cut the lead to one, junior co-captain Oliver McNally drew a charge against Brown forward Andrew McCarthy on the other end, and Casey hit a jumper over McCarthy on the next Harvard possession to give the squad its first lead since 41 seconds into the game.

Brown forward Tucker Halpern hit two free throws to give the Bears back the lead, but Wright responded with a pretty spin move and layup around McCarthy to put the Crimson back up, 50-49, with 11:30 remaining. Harvard would not lose its lead the rest of the way.

McNally had a steal on Brown’s next possession and, while racing down the court, was fouled by Bear guard Adrian Williams. McNally, realizing he had nothing to lose, threw up a shot towards the basket and it banked in. His ensuing free-throw gave the Crimson a 53-49 lead.

“I just threw it up there,” McNally said. “Fortunately, it went in.”

Harvard’s lead would get as large as eight a few minutes later after a three by freshman Matt Brown. But Halpern responded with a three of his own to bring the Bears within five, 62-57, with 6:50 to go. A McCarthy layup on the next Bears possession cut the Crimson lead to three.

A minute later, a Webster long ball from the left corner rattled in to put Harvard up six, but Halpern matched again with a fall-away three from the top of the key to make it a three-point game.

Casey responded with a long jumper, but Halpern—who was 6-9 from behind the arc—drilled another long ball to make it 67-65 Harvard with 4:01 remaining.

McCarthy missed a wide-open layup that would have tied the game on Brown’s next possession. After Casey hit one-of-two from the line and McNally made a transition layup off an outlet by Curry, the Crimson was able to pull away.

“We don’t come out of here this evening alive, with a victory, without Oliver McNally,” Amaker said. “I thought his overall performance was outstanding.”

Both teams had come out firing from long distance to open the game. Halpern started things off with a three that was matched by McNally. Freshman Sean McGonagill then hit two straight long balls to give the Bears the early 8-3 advantage in a quickly-paced half that saw each team with a lot of possessions.

A three by Brown’s Garrett Leffleman would put the Bears ahead 13-5 soon after, and later Leffleman would drive and kick it out to Halpern, who knocked down a three from the left corner to make it 25-14 Brown.

The lead would get as large as 15 after a Sullivan jumper with 3:13 left in the first period, and, after a Rivard transition three cut it to eight, Halpern responded with a long ball with Wright in his face to give the Bears an 11-point edge going into the break.

Halpern led all scorers with 29 points on 10-15 shooting, while McNally paced the Crimson with 20, to go with four assists and five steals. Wright finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Harvard, which shot 51.9% from the field in the second half.

“I think we believe in each other, and in ourselves as a team,” McNally said. “I’m so fortunate to play with such a talented group of guys.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.