Men's Basketball Hands Yale Its First Home Loss Since 2015

UPDATED: February 12, 2017, at 2:40 a.m.

NEW HAVEN, CT—Behind chants of “Let’s play football,” the Harvard men’s basketball team accomplished something no team has done in nearly two years—beat Yale at home.

Just over 11 minutes into the second half, freshman guard Justin Bassey drove inside and kicked the ball out to classmate Bryce Aiken in the corner. Aiken threw up a three as he was fouled by sophomore guard Alex Copeland—the shot fell and Aiken made the free throw to give Harvard a 55-53 lead and hush the crowd at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.

“It was a terrific pass,” Aiken said. “Terrific pass off his penetration, he kicked it to me in the corner and I let it fly. At first, I wasn’t sure if the ball went in or not, I asked my teammates, they helped me up—but terrific pass and blessed enough to make that shot.”

The Crimson would lead the rest of the way, but for the Bulldogs the game was far from over.

Despite Aiken scoring Harvard’s next four points, freshman guard Miye Oni kept Yale in the game as he hit a jumper and then came right back with a three to cut Harvard’s lead to just a point with 7:22 left on the clock.

Much like it has over its last few games, the Crimson waited until late in the second to close out the game.

It began with a layup from senior center Zena Edosomwan. On the next possession, sophomore guard Corey Johnson connected from deep. Co-captain Siyani Chambers then hit a three of his own and on the ensuing possession drove inside and laid one up off the glass.

Over a span of just over three minutes, the Crimson went on a 10-2 run to take what would be the largest lead of the night at 71-61 with 2:24 left on the clock.

The Bulldogs (14-7, 6-2 Ivy League) came within four after rattling off six unanswered points, but Chambers and Aiken closed out the game at the line to give Harvard (14-7, 6-2) the 75-67 win in New Haven.

“These games are incredibly competitive and obviously we’re fortunate to come out on this side tonight,” coach Tommy Amaker said. “But both teams did incredible things to make this a sensational night for Ivy League basketball. I think our league is a tremendous conference, you start top to bottom, you see some quality teams.”

Despite the late game heroics from Aiken and company, Saturday’s matchup began as a much closer affair. In the first half, Harvard and the Bulldogs traded shots early and often—for the Crimson the offense came courtesy of Aiken from deep and for Yale it was senior forward Sam Downey inside.

A late 8-4 run from the Bulldogs in the first gave them their largest lead of the game at eight, but Aiken answered with a three to cut the deficit to five at the half.

Aiken finished the first half with 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc while Downey closed out the period with 12 of his own and 11 rebounds.

Early on in the second, however, the Crimson struggled to find an answer to Copeland. Over a period of three minutes, the guard drove inside for eight of the 11 points that Yale would score in that span. He finished the game with 20 points, two rebounds, and an assist on 8-of-12 shooting.

“We’ve known that [Copeland] is very quick,” Amaker said. “Quick feet and he can stop on a dime. He’s got good size for a ballhandling guard so he can shoot over top of others. But he turns the corner really well, incredibly explosive.”

For the Crimson the win came largely as a result of its two guards—Chambers finished the game with 16 points, six assists, and three rebounds while Aiken finished with a season high-27 points, three rebounds, and two assists.

For Harvard, the occasion also marked the first time since February of 2015 that the Crimson swept an Ivy League weekend road trip.

“I’m glad we were fortunate enough to get the win but like coach said and like Bryce said they’re a great team,” Chambers said. “It’ll be a tough challenge when we play them again when we see them at our place.”

—Staff Writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at troy.boccelli@thecrimson.com