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With the season in the balance, the Harvard men’s basketball team went to its tried-and-true late-game play—giving senior wing Wesley Saunders the ball.
Less than 90 seconds beforehand, junior point guard Siyani Chambers had splashed a three through the net as part of an improbably four-point play. Harvard, which had trailed all game, chipping away in the second half but never getting equal, had taken the lead. A deafening roar had silenced the loud Tar Heel fans, who began to murmur in apprehension.
Four straight UNC points later, it was up to Saunders to shoulder the load again. He’d shouldered the task before—hitting late-game baskets to clinch wins against Brown and UMass. A versatile guard who shot 43 percent from behind the arc and averaged over four assists a game, Saunders created enough spacing to leave teammates open and made the pass when needed most.
It was he that assisted Steve Moundou-Missi on the jumper that gave the Crimson the league championship, and he who accepted, without complaint, a final play run for sophomore Corbin Miller, Harvard’s best high-volume distance shooter.
“The play was actually set up for Corbin to get the ball, [to] try to get him open off a screen,” Saunders said afterwards. “I looked for Corbin, but they obviously knew he was a great shooter, so they were kind of cheating towards him.”
When Miller failed to shake free of his mark, it was Saunders left with the ball and clock winding down. Staring down junior Tar Heel swingman J.P. Tokoto—who would later characterize him as one of the top five players he’d guarded all year after being torched for 26 points—he cut back left to create space and let it fly.
As the shot carried towards the basket, Saunders began to backpedal, setting himself up for celebration. But the ball caromed off the backboard and then the rim, a demoralizing end to Saunders’ Harvard career and the capstone on the 67-65 second-round NCAA Tournament loss.
“We thought we had a strategy but it didn’t work,” UNC coach Roy Williams said after the game. “J.P. really did a pretty doggone good job, but he was really, really hard to guard.”
Ultimately, however, Saunders was the main reason Harvard was in a game that scarcely anyone picked it to win. The clear underdog coming into the game, Harvard fell behind 26-12 early—with Saunders scoring the team’s first 10 points. North Carolina was as long and as athletic as advertised, giving the smaller Crimson problems all over the court. Flanked by two starting McDonald’s All-Americans, point guard Marcus Paige orchestrated an efficient offense that shot a scorching 56 percent in the first half.
Overall, the underdogs could not get into a flow offensively and could not get a stop on the other end. Sophomore forward Zena Edosomwan headed to the bench with his second foul before the first media timeout, and eight different Tar Heels scored before anyone other than Saunders got on the board for the Crimson.
“[Saunders] is a terrific all-around player,” coach Tommy Amaker said. “He’s been playing great coming into the game and certainly played exceptionally well tonight. We need him to do so much for our team.”
After an 11-0 Harvard run that pulled the Crimson within three, the Tar Heels scored 10 of the last 12 points of the half to take an 11-point lead at the half. When rookie swingman Justin Jackson hit a three just nine seconds into the second half, the Tar Heels appeared poised to break the game open.
Saunders wouldn’t go down without a fight, however. He hit a trey on the next possession, jumpstarting the rest of the team. With UNC focusing its defense on Harvard’s star, Saunders was able to create opportunities for his teammates. Chambers hit a jumper, Miller knocked down his first three and buckets by Kenyatta Smith, Steve Mondou-Missi, and Agunwa Okolie cut the lead to seven.
Harvard kept coming down the stretch. Ten second-half Tar Heel turnovers allowed Harvard to slowly but surely chip into the lead. A pair of Miller free throws and two Chambers jumpers put Harvard within three as the broadcast cut to commercials for the final time.
The rest—the four-point play, the ensuing 4-0 UNC run—set the stage for another of the titanic moments that Saunders had delivered throughout his Harvard career. Ultimately, however, Saunders did not have the answer.