Laurent Rivard

NCAA: Harvard Shocks New Mexico 68-62

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Wesley Saunders could not be contained on Thursday night as the Ivy Champs knocked out New Mexico in the tournament
Wesley Saunders could not be contained on Thursday night as the Ivy Champs knocked out New Mexico in the tournament”s biggest upset of the opening day. (Photo credit: AP/Rick Bowmer)

The Crimson rolled right past the Lobos on Thursday night, clogging the paint and contesting every shot, en route to holding New Mexico to just 37.5% shooting. Coach Tommy Amaker”s game plan was executed to perfection, as Siyani Chambers” quickness inside forced New Mexico to collapse, opening up space for Laurent Rivard (5-9) and

Christian Webster (3-5 from 3PT) to blast off from deep.

Rivard hit a 3 with 6:21 to play to put Harvard ahead and the Crimson never relinquished the lead. Saunders followed with a jumper from above the elbow, and Kenyatta Smith made a great move on the block to push the lead to 59-53 with 4:42 left. From there, the Crimson went

7-10 from the free throw line to seal the deal.

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Weekend Recap: Feb. 1-2

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A two-team race has developed pretty quickly in this year”s 14-game tournament, though the path that Harvard has taken to get to the top has been anything but easy.

The start of back-to-back Ivy weekends did not disappoint as we

were treated to some thrilling contests last night. Storylines abound at all levels of the league, so let”s just jump right in.

  • The biggest story of the weekend was Columbia crashing out of the title race after getting swept by the Ps, just like old times. The Lions put forth a valiant effort on national TV against Princeton, but couldn”t convert late and went down 72-66 at Jadwin, falling to 1-3 on the young season. Despite a career night from Maodo Lo (16 pts) and only three team turnovers, the Lions couldn”t stop a hot shooting Tigers squad. Princeton shot 51% from the field and a scorching 73% (8-11) from three. Hummer was just 2-8 from the field, but made his impact in other ways, getting to the stripe and knocking down 12-14, and dishing out seven assists to go with seven rebounds. TJ Bray had another great performance, hitting 6-10 including 3-3 from deep and committing zero turnovers. Brendon Connolly, who has seen his minutes dwindle as of late, knocked down a pretty running hooking shot to put the game away late. Princeton continues its perfect homestand and moves to 3-0. Brown and Yale visit Jadwin next weekend.

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Comeback Falls Short as Harvard Bows Out to Vanderbilt

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Laurent Rivard led

a late charge, but Harvard was unable to

climb all the way back from an 18-point deficit, falling to a dangerous Vanderbilt team 79-70 in Albuquerque. Rivard led the Crimson with 20 points on 6-7 shooting. Harvard”s usual advantage down low was negated due to big Festus Ezeli, who finished with 8 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks. The Commodores were led by the sharpshooting John Jenkins and his 27 points on 7-12 shooting. A 14-3 run that began with 4:30 to play brought Harvard within five, but the Crimson would get no closer. The loss ends an historic season for the Ivy champions with a final record of 26-5.

Friday's Best: Yale knocks off Penn

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Greg Mangano carried Yale to a big victory over Zack Rosen's Penn Quakers tonight at the John J. Lee Amphitheatre. (Photo Credit: ivyleaguesports.com)

Quick hitters from Friday night”s games

Best win: Yale. Tonight”s biggest victory has to go to the Yale Bulldogs. Penn had a lot of momentum late in this game, and the Bulldogs could have let it all slip away when they started to get sloppy with the ball in the second half. Yale”s guards turned it around though and Mangano decided that the Elis weren”t losing this one, grabbing two offensive rebounds off missed free throws (one was his own) in the final minute to seal the win. Turnovers continue to trouble this team as Reggie Willhite, Austin Morgan, and Mike Grace combined for 13 giveaways, but besides those lapses in judgement (which need to be corrected soon), the Yale guards were impressive. Morgan hit three critical three pointers under pressure; Willhite showed his typical hustle on both ends, grabbing key rebounds and knocking down a huge late-game jumper; and Mike Grace had his best game of the season. The North Carolina native was 5-6 from the field with four assists, showing a propensity for the bank shot and looking more dangerous than he has all year. Mangano was pissed off at the referees all game, but he stopped whining and took the game into his own hands down the stretch, denying Rosen the chance at a game-tying three by getting those monster rebounds. The big man showed great touch around the rim all day, finishing with 23 points on 8-13 shooting and 10 rebounds. If this was Round One of the Player of the Year battle between Mangano and Rosen, the Bulldog came out on top.

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