Nearly a month after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis officer while three other officers stood by, the Ivy hoops community has continued to speak out against racial injustice and in support of people of color.
Another introspective from Nat Graham
Penn men’s associate head coach and 1997 graduate Nat Graham, who is White, on Sunday published a post on Medium thoughtfully reflecting on the structural advantages his race gave him in life and the “not so equal” separation between his Miami neighborhood and that of his Black high school teammate who Graham found out later eventually got his teeth knocked out while in prison.
The Ivy hoops community has continued to protest against the injustice that black people face in America in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis officer while three other officers stood last Monday.
Harvard men’s hoops 2018 grad Chris Egi was the subject of a SportsNet feature Tuesday highlighting the Markham, Ontario native’s drive to launch the No More Names campaign, a fundraising and awareness building organization aiming for criminal injustice and police brutality.
Editor’s note: Ivy Hoops Online writer Richard Kent has followed Ancient Eight men’s basketball for decades and after consultation with players, coaches and fans has compiled his personal list of the top 10 men’s hoops teams since the formation of the Ivy League as we know it in 1955. No top 10 list in this category is going to look the same, so if you have a top 10 of your own that you’d like to share, please share it in a comment below.
Here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: the 2019-20 Ivy Hoops Online All-Ivy Men’s honorees as selected by IHO contributors, which are quite bit different from the selections that the Ivy League released:
On Saturday, it will be exactly five years since one of the toughest nights in recent Yale men’s basketball history. Leading by five points in the final minute against a Dartmouth team that was playing just for pride, the Bulldogs lost in perhaps the most excruciating manner possible: a buzzer-beater by Gabas Maldunas off an inbound play. The Ivy League title trophy – set to be awarded to Yale – was quickly covered and hustled out of Leede Arena and Hanover.
After losing a tiebreaker to Harvard the following week, their NCAA Tournament drought reached 53 years, and – having graduated four contributing seniors – who knew when they would get another chance the way Harvard and Princeton were trending?
NEW HAVEN – The hegemony over Princeton continues for Yale at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The Elis defeated the Tigers, 66-63, Yale’s sixth straight win in the series. The win also marks the ninth home weekend sweep of Princeton and Penn. To put this into historical context, Penn leads the overall series by 151-82 and Princeton leads it now 150-84.
In a game strewn with improbabilities, the most improbable stat was Yale rallying from down 10 with 1:38 remaining to upend Penn, 76-73, before 2,106 screaming fans at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
Sure, AJ Brodeur had 25 points and Devon Goodman 23 for Penn in a losing effort, but the number which jumps off the page from the stat sheet is five.
That’s how many steals Yale defensive specialist Jalen Gabbidon pocketed, three of which came during the final 98 seconds.
It was an ending that even the great Steven Spielberg could not have scripted.
Harvard traveled to John J. Lee Amphitheater Friday night in desperate need of a win after losing to Penn and Princeton on the road last weekend. The Ivy schedule makers dealt the Crimson a very tough early-season hand.
Harvard eked out a dramatic 78-77 win after Azar Swain hit a clutch three with one second left, was fouled by Rio Haskett and after a seemingly endless wait on the free throw line due to an official review of the time remaining, missed the free throw.
Harvard’s Rio Haskett after being called for what could have been a game-changing foul on Azar Swain as Swain hit a three with Yale trailing 78-74 with 0.9 seconds left at Yale Friday. But Azar Swain couldn’t complete the four-point play after a four-minute-long official review resulted in the addition of 2.1 seconds to the game clock, and the Crimson left New Haven with a victory by the slimmest of margins. | Photo by Erica Denhoff
Swain was brilliant in the second half ,scoring 27 of his game-high 33 points in that stanza. He almost single-handedly brought Yale back from a 13-point deficit in the last five minutes of the game resulting from a 9-0 run in a game played before a boisterous and student-laden sellout crowd of 2,706.
Harvard led 45-32 at the half, fueled by 19-for-33 (57.6%) shooting from the field, including 6-for-11 (54.5%) from three en route to an 8-for-19 (42.1%) showing from long range on the night. Yale finished the game just 7-for-22 (31.8%) from deep.
Harvard standout big man Chris Lewis (0) s scored just four points Friday at Yale, but Robert Baker scored 10 points and was one of five different Crimson players to hit at least one three-pointer in Harvard’s 78-77 win. Harvard shot 42.1% from outside, besting Yale’s clip of 31.8%. | Photo by Erica Denhoff
Noah Kirkwood had 18 points and Danilo Djuricic posted a pivotal 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
Paul Atkinson had a career-high 28 points on an efficient 11-for-16 from the field predicated upon fleet footwork which consistently befuddled numerous Harvard defenders.
Jordan Bruner was held to three points.
Harvard outrebounded Yale, 35-30, a feat almost never accomplished at JLA. The Elis trailed 71-59 with 5:42 to play but clawed back with 11 points from Swain the rest of the way, including three triples in the final 2:25. Yale had just dug too deep a hole.
“We need to get contributions from everyone,” Yale coach James Jones said.
“It was hard-fought,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We were fortunate to win.”
Yale now sits at 16-5 and 4-1 in the Ivy and Harvard at 14-6 and 3-2.
Noah Kirkwood celebrates after Harvard completed a 78-77 victory at Yale Friday. Kirkwood notched a team-high 18 points for the Crimson. | Photo by Erica Denhoff
