Amaker still had a timeout in his back pocket with eight seconds remaining. Rather than draw up a play, Amaker allowed Aiken to simply be Aiken and win the game on his own.

“We had plenty of time left to get it to him and we spaced the floor.” Amaker said, “Obviously with Bryce for us to be an amazing marksman and [that’s the] kind of the situation he loves to be in. That’s how he’s wired.”

HASKETT SOLIDIFIES HIS ROLE

Aiken’s resounding shot certainly overshadowed the performance of another critical contributor to the Crimson victory, freshman guard Rio Haskett. Despite not scoring a single bucket in the contest, Haskett displayed extreme acuity on the defensive end, particularly in guarding Pipkins.

Haskett not only tallied three critical steals late in the game, but allowed Aiken important time away from Pipkins on the defensive end. Pipkins did contribute important three-pointers in the tail end of the game, but without Haskett’s fearless play, the Minutemen certainly would have had a much easier time attacking the basket.

While still working on his shot, Haskett has solidified a role coming off the bench for Amaker. This addition will prove to be a critical one for the Crimson, especially when the 6’0” Aiken is matched with more physically-imposing point guards.

“I think it’s really big for our team, the psyche, the confidence, and certainly for our younger players,” Amaker said. “I thought we got it from a lot of different players, The balance is always big, the bench is always big, and we need to keep staying on our course.”

—Staff writer Henry Zhu can be reached at henry.zhu@thecrimson.com.