Prolific production from a trio of Harvard guards, Robert Hinton, Tey Barbour and Chandler Pigge, neutralized a monster 30-point effort from senior forward Landon Lewis and propelled the Crimson men to a 69-59 victory over Brown at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Friday evening.
With the win, Harvard (11-9, 4-2 Ivy) claimed sole possession of second place through the first six conference games of the 2026 season, while Bruno (1-5, 7-12) remained at the bottom of the Ancient Eight.
Despite the disappointing results, the Bears faithful were able to celebrate the 25-year broadcasting career of legendary Brown hoopster Russ Tyler (Class of 1971) prior to the start of the game.
Following seven ties and a two-point Brown lead at 22-20, a Pigge triple that sparked a 7-0 run gave Harvard a lead it would not relinquish over the final 26:26 of action.
Brown got the game within two late in the half, but four free throws from Hinton put visitors ahead 34-28 at the break.
The Crimson came out strong at the start of the second half, stretching their advantage to 11 in the first three-plus minutes. After Bruno managed to make it a 42-37 contest, Harvard methodically built a double-dight lead and was up 57-44 at the 7:34 mark.
A 7-0 run, featuring two hook shots and a free throw by Lewis, made it a six-point contest with just under two minutes to go in regulation, but the game never seemed in doubt and Bruno never got any closer.
The undersized Crimson struggled on the offensive glass, grabbing only 10.5% of their available rebounds, and connecting on one second chance bucket. However, the team’s guards kept finding openings on the inside and outside, sparking the 66.7% (12-for-18) two-point, 35.3% (6-for-17) and 93.1% (27-for-29) free-throw shooting efforts that more than made up for their rebounding troubles.
On the other side, Bruno controlled the inside on its offensive possessions by securing a 29.4% rebounding rate, making 57.6% (19-for-33) of its two-point attempts and scoring 15 second chance points. Unfortunately, the team’s 20% (4-for-20) three-point and 52.9% (9-for-17) charity stripe results doomed any chance at getting the win.
Hinton led the way for the victors with 22 points, including 14-for-16 from the free throw line, and Pigge added 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
Barbour’s four triples and six free throws led to a career-high 20 points, giving the Manassas, Va. native seven double-digit results in his last nine games. The sophomore also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds on the night.
For Brown, Lewis finished with 30 points on a 12-for-16 effort from the field and a game-high eight rebounds, while no one else scored in double-figures or grabbed more than four boards.
Tommy Amaker’s Crimson will complete the opening back-to-back weekend by traveling south on I-95 for a first-place showdown at Yale (16-3, 5-1) on Saturday night at 7:00 pm. Mike Martin’s Bears, meanwhile, will try to break a three-game losing streak when it hosts third place Dartmouth (9-10, 3-3) at 6 p.m.