Ivy Basketball Roundup: Dec. 2

Harvard (7-1) suffered its first loss of the season, losing to Colorado on national television. The Crimson failed to maintain a 42-30 halftime lead as Colorado outscored Harvard 40-20 after the break, beating the Crimson, 70-62.

The Crimson then traveled to Alaska to compete in the Great Alaska Shootout. On Thursday, Harvard toppled both Denver, 68-60, and then beat Wisconsin-Green Bay, 76-64, the following day to set up the Saturday final with Texas Christian. Harvard held the Horned Frogs to 25 percent shooting, the lowest-opposing shooting percentage for the Crimson under Tommy Amaker. Harvard has the best record in the Ivy League so far this season.

Princeton (5-1) followed up its recent OT thriller against Lafayette with three straight wins, starting on Saturday against Rice. Hans Brase led the offensive with 15 points and four rebounds in Texas, tying his season-high.

On Tuesday, T.J. Bray’s historic night pushed the Tigers past George Mason, 71-66. Bray had 18 points, 10 assists and no turnovers, making him the first Tigers player to do so against a Division I opponent since 1991.

On Saturday, Princeton held Bucknell to 1-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc, despite the Bisons’ 47 percent shooting from that range heading into the contest. The Tigers responded by draining 10 threes of their own, surging to a 66-53 win over the Bison.

Dartmouth (3-1) had a quiet week only competing once on Dec. 1 as the Big Green stomped the inferior Maine Black Bears.

Sophomore Alex Mitola led the attack, tallying 19 points in the contest. Despite Maine holding a 23-17 lead, including a 19-9 advantage on the boards to begin the game, the Black Bears ran into foul trouble and allowed a hot Big Green squad to get going inside the paint.

At the start of the second half, Dartmouth rattled off eight-straight points, extending its lead from nine to 17. The Big Green would continue their offensive torrent and never let their lead get under 12 points to finish the rout of Maine, 81-56.

Brown (5-2) competed in its fourth straight road game as the squad faced Longwood, turning in their third straight victory, 81-69. The Bears led by as many as 25 points in the second half before Longwood went on a late run.

On Wednesday, the Bears dropped a tight contest against Bryant. The Bears fought back from a 12-point second-half deficit to get the score within two points with 13 seconds left after Sean McGonagill drained one of two free throws to get the score to 69-67. Brown’s comeback efforts were halted when Rafael Maia failed to convert on a lob pass inside with one second left on the clock.

On Saturday, Brown came out sloppy against Central Connecticut State falling behind 31-27 at the half. But, the Bears’ offense surged, going on a 28-12 run to begin the second half. The Blue Devils pulled within five but that was the closest it would get for the remainder of the contest. Brown finished off Central Connecticut, 72-61, with three of its big men scoring in double-digits, including a double-double by Maia.

Yale (4-3) lost to Mercer last Saturday, 81-54, despite a solid effort by the Elis. Justin Sears posted 22 points, but it wasn’t enough to stave off a Bears offense that shot 54.7 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs spent last Wednesday engaged in a tight competition with Lafayette. The Elis found themselves in a thrilling finish, beginning with a game-tying jumper by the Leopards’ Joey Ptasinski with 3.5 seconds left in the contest. Javier Duren then took the ball and sprinted up the court to sink a last-second jumper, propelling Yale to a 79-76 victory. The jumper had to be confirmed by replay technology, but the 30-foot jump shot indeed left Duren’s hand in time.

However, the Elis got back to the basics and notched a ‘W’ over Hartford, 54-49. Sears, again, put on a great display by scoring 16 points and 10 rebounds. In a very even matchup, the Bulldogs had ‘lady luck’ on their side to pull out the close win.

Columbia (4-4) had a busy week, ultimately splitting their four contests beginning with a home competition against North Texas at the Coaches v. Cancer Classic. Sophomore Grant Mullins scored 18 points and collected a career-high eight rebounds to help the Lions top the squad from the Lone Star State. Columbia finished the Classic with a loss to Portland, 69-52, where the Pilots shot 53.8 percent from the field, and a 65-60 win over Idaho, led by Maodo Lo’s 20-point performance.

On Wednesday, the Lions traveled home to face American University who folded in the defensive skirmish. The game featured a seven-minute scoring drought in the second half as the Lions won, 61-47.

Then, Columbia was back on the road again, this time to face Elon. The Lions fell behind 15-0 early and trailed the entire contest. With 4:42 left in the second half, Columbia made a push to cut the deficit to three, making it 57-54, but were stalemated on later efforts by the Phoenix. But junior Alex Rosenberg was there for the Lions in the clutch, draining a game-tying three pointer to force overtime in North Carolina. However, OT saw Elon ultimately prevail, 68-65, after senior forward Lucas Troutman nailed a hook shot and a series of free throws to finish the game off.

Cornell (0-9) dismal season continued on with four straight losses. It began last on Nov. 22 when the Big Red fell victim to a 1- point, 14-rebound double-double by Siena’s Imoa Silas. Silas led the late-game effort to propel Siena to a 71-70 victory over Cornell.

On the following Tuesday, Cornell gave Radford everything it had, including a combined 37-point effort by Devin Cherry and Robert Hatter, but could not edge the Highlanders. Radford went on a 21-5 run late in the first half which ultimately spelled doom for the Big Red who lost, 86-71.

Cornell then traveled to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan. Despite strong performances by Nolan Cressler and Hatter, who tallied a combined 49 points, the Big Red dropped another game, 83-70. The Broncos went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes to send Cornell packing with its eighth loss.

If it wasn’t already bad enough, Cornell traveled to South Bend, Indiana to take on the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame pulverized Cornell in the second half, boasting six players that scored in double-figures. The 101-67 defeat pushed Cornell to its ninth straight loss and into the bottom of the Ivy rankings for the foreseeable future.

SEE ALSO

Lafayette trumps Penn basketball late, 79-76

Penn basketball blows out Niagara, 85-66

Ivy Basketball Roundup: November 21st

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