Late Run Not Enough in Close Game at Harvard, 67-62

Saturday, January 18

Cambridge, Mass. / Lavietes Pavilion

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

7-9 (0-1Ivy)

Harvard

12-4 (1-0Ivy)

Dartmouth

Harvard

Aaryn Rai scored eight of his 13 points in the final two minutes.

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Late Run Not Enough in Close Game at Harvard, 67-62

1/18/2020 3:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Big Green outscored the Crimson over the final two minutes, 12-5

By: Rick Bender

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard broke open a tight game with a 12-2 run late in the second half, then fended off upset-minded Dartmouth, 67-62, in the Ivy League opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion. Aaryn Rai led four Big Green players in double figures with 13 — eight in the final two minutes — but they could not quite overcome the 12-point hole in the final three minutes.

The Crimson (12-4, 1-0 Ivy) won their seventh straight game behind the offense of Chris Lewis and Chris Ledlum, both of whom had 18 points and combined for 10 rebounds and five blocks. Christian Juzang added 11 points, his last three coming at the line in the final 30 seconds to help seal the Harvard victory, and dished out six assists, while Robert Baker hauled in eight rebounds

Both teams led the other for almost exactly 19 minutes apiece, but most of Dartmouth's lead was throughout the first half while Harvard was in front for most of the second stanza. Senior Ian Sistare, who produced 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds, provided the first points of the afternoon with a long 3-pointer in the first minute of action, and Rai added another less than a minute later as the Big Green jumped out in front.

Although Harvard quickly knotted the score, Dartmouth built up its advantage to seven midway through the half, 15-8, when James Foye popped one from downtown. Again the Crimson chipped away, mostly on the strength of Lewis down low as he scored 14 of his 18 points in the first 20 minutes of action. When Juzang sank a pair of free throws with 5:27 left in the period for a 22-21 Harvard lead, the Big Green ripped off 10 straight points on two buckets in the paint sandwiched between trifectas from sophomore Taurus Samuels and Sistare, giving Dartmouth its largest lead of the day at 31-22.

A Crimson timeout proved to be just what they needed as they scored the final eight points of the half — five from Ledlum and three more the hard way from Lewis — to close the gap to one at the intermission, 31-30.

In the second half, Harvard came out gunning with long balls by Juzang and Ledlum for a sudden five-point advantage, 36-31. A Lewis dunk with 13:32 to play boosted the difference to seven, 43-36, leading Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin to call a timeout. Sistare responded with his third trey, and senior Ian Carter (10 points) drove the baseline for a thunderous dunk to bring the Green back within two.

Back and forth the two teams went, but after sophomore Wes Slajchert kept Dartmouth a basket away from tying with a 3-pointer, Harvard went on a 9-0 run that lasted four minutes and was jump-started by five points from Noah Kirkwood, making it a 57-46 contest with 4:16 remaining.

Ledlum answered a bucket by Chris Knight (10 points) with his third triple with 3:38 left for the largest lead of the game at 60-48. It was still a 12-point difference with less than two minutes to play when Dartmouth nearly clawed its way back.

Rai hit a layup then sank the first of two foul shots to get the Green back within single digits, but Samuels snagged the long rebound on the miss and took it to the rim to make it a 62-55 game. Rai then stole the ball near midcourt and drilled two free throws to close the gap to five with 48.1 seconds still to play.

Ledlum misfired on two free throws, and Rai added another bucket with 32.4 ticks left, and suddenly it was a one-score game at 62-59. Juzang and Rai both converted 1-of-2 at the charity stripe before Juzang gave Harvard a little more breathing room with two free throws with 14.9 seconds showing. Samuels needed barely four seconds to drop in a layup, but Rio Haskett hit two clutch foul shots, and the Big Green missed a pair of desperation shots as time expired.

Harvard shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor and 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from the perimeter, but five of those trifectas came in the second half when the Crimson took the lead and held it. Dartmouth shot essentially 40 percent overall (21-of-52, .404) and behind the arc (8-of-20), plus enjoyed its best game at the line all year at 85.7 percent (12-of-14). Harvard held a slim 33-30 advantage on the glass but turned it over 14 times to the Big Green's 12.

These two teams will play the rematch next Saturday at Leede Arena in Hanover at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Bob Lipman and Dave Faucher calling the action, while a free audio stream will be available on the official website of Big Green athletics, DartmouthSports.com, featuring Brett Franklin on the call.

Notes: Dartmouth has dropped four straight games and five straight at Lavietes Pavilion … Foye has 99 3-pointers in his career at a 41.4 percent clip.