HARVARD 55, COLUMBIA 52
If Harvard was going to drop one contest on last weekend’s road trip, it was assumed the Crimson would falter in New York City against the Lions, who had yet to lose at Levien Gym this year.
Columbia had also just come off a big upset win against Penn the weekend before, while Harvard had to shrug off a loss to Yale at home. However, several players on both teams were battling the flu, and Columbia senior guard Derrick Mayo of the Lions was out with a broken foot.
Columbia’s slow, Princeton-style offense limited possessions on either side of the ball, and each team’s lackluster shooting led to a first-half stalemate at 24-24.
The Lions took the lead in the second half, led by reigning Ivy Player of the Year Craig Austin, who finished with 15 points. Columbia had its largest lead of the game, 44-36, with just over six minutes remaining.
Harvard’s pressure defense once again got the Crimson back in the game, though the Crimson blew several early chances to tie the game. Captain Drew Gellert missed a pair of free throws with Harvard down by two, and a minute later, Prasse-Freeman airballed a three-pointer that would have tied the score as well.
But the Crimson was a given a second life down the stretch. Columbia’s Victor Munoz suffered a case of the nerves, and with two minutes left he missed two key free throws that would have given the Lions a five-point lead.
Harvey then came down the other end to hit a three-pointer and tie the game. After another Columbia score, Harvey hit a pretty left-handed layup to tie it at 52-52.
Controversy ensued near the end when Columbia’s Chris Wiedemann dunked the ball with eight seconds remaining, with both Wiedemann and the home crowd believing he had given the Lions the lead. Instead, the officiating crew called an offensive foul on Wiedemann, saying that Harvey had taken a charge.
The dunk ended up being irrelevant, as Harvard drew up an out-of-bounds play and got the ball to Harvey as time wound down. He launched a three-pointer as time expired. The ball carromed off the rim, and then landed in.
“Harvey stepped up on his own,” said Winter, when asked if the Crimson had purposely gone to Harvey down the stretch. “The last play of the game, though—we drew that up.”
Harvard’s amazing victory, and the heroics of Harvey—who finished with 18 points—put the Crimson temporarily in control of its own destiny in the Ivy race, but with Saturday’s loss at Cornell, things are more complicated. The Crimson currently sit tied for third place with a 5-3 record, behind Yale and Princeton. Each of those two teams have only one league loss.
“We owe it to ourselves and our season to bring it,” Prasse-Freeman said.
Harvard goes on the road again for a double-dip with Penn and Princeton this coming weekend.