Cornell Basketball in the News

References to Cornell Basketball in the news media today...

From Soft Pretzel Logic:

I am still debating whether to go to the Penn-Cornell game on Friday in Ithaca, N.Y., at which the Ivy League title could be clinched if the Big Red win and Princeton loses at Columbia. The weather will play a major role in my decision, as you can imagine.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Just because Cornell is from the Ivy League, don't ignore the Big Red or forward Ryan Wittman. The son of the former Cavs coach is averaging 18.3 points for a team that sits at 19-8 on the season. He has posted 33 points on Syracuse, 28 on Indiana, 25 on St. John's and 21 on Minnesota.

From the Philadelphia Daily News:

THE IVY STORY

Cornell (9-3 Ivy) lost at Harvard, 71-70. Princeton (7-4) remains alive and plays at Cornell on Saturday after Penn plays at the Big Red on Friday. Yale and Dartmouth, each at 7-5, are technically still alive. One will be eliminated Friday when Yale hosts Dartmouth. Both will be out if Cornell beats Penn. If Cornell does beat Penn and Princeton loses at Columbia, it is over. A Cornell sweep of Penn and Princeton wins the Ivy under any circumstance.

From the Yale Daily News:

Heading into the weekend, the men’s basketball team had come off two second-half come-from-behind victories to remain in the Ivy League title conversation. The Bulldogs tried to accomplish the feat twice again this weekend but weren’t as successful.

On Friday, the Elis (12-14, 7-5 Ivy) overcame a one-point halftime deficit to avenge their previous loss against Penn (9-16, 5-6) with an 87-79 win at the historic Palestra. But on Saturday, the Bulldogs spotted Princeton (12-12, 7-4) 14 points to begin the contest and did not take a lead in a backbreaking 62-54 loss in New Jersey.

The loss was especially devastating due to Cornell’s (19-9, 9-3) loss at Harvard (13-13, 5-7). A Yale win would have put the Bulldogs just a game behind the Big Red with two games remaining. Instead, Yale will need to sweep the final weekend of the regular season and hope Cornell — currently sporting an unblemished 11-0 home record — gets swept at home next weekend.

***

The outcome all but eliminates Yale from the Ancient Eight championship picture, but keeps Princeton in the race. Just a game behind Cornell, the Tigers head to the Empire State next weekend to battle Columbia (11-15, 6-6) and Cornell on Friday.

A win over the Big Red, along with wins in their two other remaining games, would put Princeton and Cornell in a tie atop the Ivy League standings. If that were the case, a one-game playoff would decide who would earn the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

From the Daily Pennsylvanian:

I would submit to you that even if John Wooden in his prime were coaching this year’s Penn team, he wouldn’t have won the league. In terms of talent and experience, Penn is not there yet. Perhaps they could have been coached to more wins, but certainly not past Cornell to an Ivy League title.

From the Tiger Blog (Princeton Athletics Department):

March Begins Meaningful for Men's Basketball

The Princeton men's basketball team will be playing meaningful games in March. There are no more "ifs" about that.

Last night's win over Yale, coupled with Cornell's improbable 71-70 loss at Harvard, has made this much true for the Tigers. Keep winning, and the Ivy League championship is theirs.

But before we break down all the "ifs" around this weekend's trip to New York, remember how unexpected it is for the Tigers to be in the Ivy League title chase in college basketball's most sacred month.

Five Ivy League wins between 2007 and 2008, and seven already this season. Picked last in the preseason poll, and alone in second place heading into the final weekend. From a team that went 6-23 overall and 3-11 in the Ivy in 2007-08, 58% of Princeton's scoring from last season wasn't in uniform for this one, leaving the field wide open for someone, and ideally several someones, to step up and fill the gap.

Junior Zach Finley, the leading returning rebounder from last season, leads in that category again. He was also the leading scorer in points per game last season, and thanks to major growth from his teammates, is fifth this season.

Dan Mavraides, who scored 11 points as a freshman, is averaging almost that much (10.5) per game as a sophomore. Douglas Davis (12.4 ppg) leads the team and is an Ivy League Rookie of the Year possibility. Pawel Buczak has had some breakout games in his junior season as he eased into the starting center role, none more impressive than the 15 points he scored to help Princeton to a 20-point win over Cornell February 6.

Speaking of that date, the 61-41 win opened the door to thoughts that this team might somehow challenge for an Ivy League crown much sooner than expected. Princeton followed it the next night with a 28-point win over Columbia. At 4-0, already with a decided victory over a team that went 14-0 in the Ivy last season, who could blame the dreamers?

But those who might have peeked at their mid-March calendars were soon pulled back to earth. A 12-point loss at Yale in which the Tigers couldn't match the physicality of the Bulldogs, who outrebounded Princeton by 20. The next night, Princeton lost by 18 at Brown to give the Bears their first Ivy League win of the season and hand the Tigers their worst loss in Providence since Americans were getting ready to choose between Vice President Nixon and a U.S. Senator from Massachussetts named Kennedy to succeed Ike in the White House.

Then came an overtime loss to Penn, and Princeton's 4-3 record seemed much further than 11 days from its 4-0 Ivy start.

But then came a little help. As Princeton was gutting out a win over Harvard Feb. 20, Yale was handling Cornell. The deficit in the Ivy standings was 1 1/2 games and could be made up if Princeton won out, even if Cornell didn't lose again.

Again, the Tigers couldn't keep their fate in their hands. The next night, Princeton led by 13 points in the first half against Dartmouth on an evening when the playing floor at Jadwin Gym was to be renamed for Princeton's 29-season former head coach, Pete Carril. The lead slipped away and eventually so did the game. With it, or so it seemed, was another shot the Ivy title.

Entering Jadwin Gym the following weekend were the Brown team that humiliated the Tigers just two weeks ago, followed by the Yale club that outmuscled a then-Ivy undefeated Princeton team.

With seemingly nothing to play for, at least in terms of the Ivy race, Princeton showed its moxie. It held on for a less-than-pretty win over Brown. It ran out to a 14-0 lead against Yale, lost most of it, and held on once again. And wouldn't you know it, Cornell stumbled.

So here we are, the calendar on March, and a few wins separating the Princeton basketball team from its 26th Ivy title.

In the first 24 games, the Tigers showed they can learn from lessons. They had lost leads, like the 13-point one they had at St. Bonaventure back in December, and lost games. They won when few expected them to, like last month against Cornell, but lost at Brown and Yale after some of those non-believers started to come around. After the Harvard win, what had been lost was at least partially regained, only to be lost again after Dartmouth won in Carril Court's debut.

The loss stung -- head coach Sydney Johnson referenced it Saturday night following the rematch win over Yale -- and the Tigers responded with wins over two teams that knocked them around in their first meeting.

One last time, the Tigers have their Ivy fate in their hands. The task is huge, with three wins on the road likely needed to touch the Ivy crown. It may happen, it may not. But once again, after some too-lean years, Princeton basketball matters again in March.

From the Washington Post:

While his young team was struggling this season, [Loyola coach Jimmy] Patsos was receiving national attention -- but not the kind he wanted. During a game against Cornell on Nov. 18, he left the bench at one point to sit in the stands with Loyola Athletic Director Joe Boylan, telling people afterward he had been reciting the Serenity Prayer to calm himself down because he was upset with the officials.

From The Dartmouth:

The Dartmouth men’s basketball team fell to Cornell Friday night 75-57, delivering a major blow to the Big Green’s postseason chances.

The loss to Cornell dropped the Big Green to three games back in the Ivy League standings with three games left in the season. Saturday’s win over Columbia, combined with Cornell’s loss to Harvard, means that the Big Green is not mathematically eliminated.

Dartmouth must win its games next weekend against Yale and Brown, and Cornell must lose its games against Penn and Princeton to force a tie at the top of the standings. The scenario is a long shot, however, as the Big Red team has not lost at home this year.

Because there is no tiebreaker in the Ivy League, such a scenario would give both Dartmouth and Cornell a share of the Ivy League title, and force a one-game playoff to determine which team would win the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Dartmouth came out of the gate looking for a strong start, seeking to avoid a repeat of the team’s last meeting in which Dartmouth faced a 14-point deficit at halftime.

The Big Green kept up with Cornell in the first half, even taking an early 13-7 lead. A few runs by the Big Red, however, opened up an eight-point lead for Cornell at halftime.

Dartmouth came out firing in the second half, cutting the deficit to three in the first five minutes. Then the rain came. In the next five minutes, Cornell made six three-pointers, taking a 13-point lead.

Any hopes for a comeback seemed to be dashed when Alex Barnett ‘09 missed two free throws, and Cornell’s Ryan Wittman hit a three on the other end. Wittman had 20 points on the night, and went four for five from behind the arc.

The highlight of the second half for the Big Green came at the 7:02 mark when Barnett stole the ball in the backcourt and elevated for a two-handed slam dunk that brought the crowd of 1,572 to its feet.

The Big Green, though, could not sustain a scoring run, and Cornell did not let up offensively, extending its lead to as much as 19.

Barnett finished the game with 19 points and nine rebounds. Other key contributors for the Big Green were Ronnie Dixon ‘11 who had 12 points, and Clive Weeden ‘11 with eight rebounds.

The Big Red lit up the scoreboard, shooting 50 percent from the field, and 58 percent from three-point range.

The Big Green, by contrast, shot just 35 percent from the floor and 26 percent from three-point range.

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Ithaca Journal Recap of Cornell at Harvard

Harvard survives late shots to knock off Cornell

By Brian Delaney
The Ithaca Journal
March 1, 2009

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Cornell men's basketball team had three chances to take the lead over Harvard in the final minute of Saturday night's contest, but shots from Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale failed to find the bottom of the net and the Big Red fell, 71-70, in front of a raucous crowd at Lavietes Pavilion.

Wittman, who scored a game-high 24 points in the loss, had two great looks in the final minute. First, he missed a medium-range jumper with about a minute left. Then, with less than five seconds left, Wittman missed a shot in the lane, but was able to corral the loose ball in the corner near his team's bench and call timeout before falling out of bounds.

"We tried to get a screen for Ryan and get him open," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. "I thought he did a great job of attacking the rim, it just didn't go."

That set up the final play. The inbounds pass went to Dale after Wittman was double teamed by the Crimson, and Dale curled toward the hoop and down the left lane. His shot was blocked by Harvard's Keith Wright, who also corralled the loose ball as time expired.

"We talked about making it very difficult, nothing easy," Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. "Our kids had a great stand at the end against a tremendous offensive team. I liked how we were able to dig in and make the plays necessary at the end to pull out the win."

Cornell (19-9, 9-3 Ivy) opened up a lead as large as nine points in the beginning part of the game, thanks to some hot shooting from Geoff Reeves (pair of 3-pointers). A Wittman drive to the hoop put the Big Red up 19-10 with 12 minutes left in the opening half.

But some uncharacteristically sloppy play by Cornell allowed the Crimson to get back into the game. Harvard (13-13, 5-7 Ivy) forced 11 turnovers in the first half, including five from Dale, to get back into the game, eventually taking a 27-26 lead with 3:25 left after back-to-back 3s from Peter Boehm and Jeremy Lin.

Cornell was able to bounce back to take a 33-30 lead at halftime after a put back from Jeff Foote (12 points, 6 rebounds).

"We didn't play one of our better games," Donahue said. "We didn't handle the ball well, which is something we usually do pretty well. Give Harvard credit; I thought they really played better defense than they've played all year. They did a very good job."

Harvard came out of the locker room on fire, riding seven points from Lin in the opening minutes, including a 3 from the top of the key, to take a 44-36 lead with 16:35 left.

Cornell started to claw back into the game, turning to the hot shooting of Wittman as Foote got into foul trouble, picking up his fourth foul with 13 minutes left and Big Red down seven. Over the next two minutes, Wittman hit three big shots, with the last being a 3-pointer a couple of feet behind the line to push Cornell to a 55-54 lead at the 11-minute mark.

"I thought we were struggling getting looks in general, for whatever reason," Donahue said. "Ryan's been really playing well lately. A couple of things can happen when you get Ryan the ball, he's a facilitator as well as a scorer. They may also overreact a little bit and we'd have somebody else wide open."

From there, the two teams went back and forth, with Harvard holding a lead as high as three points. Dale's shot in the lane tied the game at 64 with four minutes left.

The Crimson countered the Cornell charge and used Foote's foul trouble to their advantage, as Lin, Drew Housman and Oliver McNally all converted on drives to the hoop to push Harvard's advantage to 71-67 with 2:25 left. Wittman kept Cornell close, hitting a runner in the lane and one of two free throws to cut the deficit to a point, setting up the dramatic finish.

"They are a very good basketball team and a tough team," said Amaker. "For us to have this kind of win here at home, with the way we have been playing lately, to win this way, we are very proud of our kids."

Cornell hurt itself by missing seven of 16 free throws.

The Big Red failed to clinch at least a share of the Ivy League title. With Princeton beating Yale 62-54 Saturday, Cornell's lead is 1 1/2 games heading into Friday's home game against Penn and Saturday's rematch with Princeton. Cornell can clinch the league's automatic NCAA tournament berth with a weekend sweep, a win over Penn coupled with a Princeton loss to Columbia on Friday, or just a win over Princeton on Saturday.

"As I said to the guys, this is obviously extremely disappointing," Donahue said. "This isn't supposed to be easy. I have a great deal of respect in our ability to bounce back and in our resiliency and toughness. I expect us to have a great week and come back and try to get it done at home."

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The Crimson Weekend Recap of Cornell at Harvard

Senior Drew Housman and junior Jeremy Lin shared the team lead with 20 points in Saturday night’s 71-70 victory over Ivy League-leading Cornell. Housman also posted four assists in the game. But perhaps Housman’s greatest contribution was his tough defensive coverage of last year’s Player of the Year, Louis Dale, who was held to a weak 3-of-12 shooting on the night.

Harvard Ekes Out Close Victory Over League-Leading Cornell in Season’s Final Home Game

By Brian A. Campos
The Crimson
March 2, 2009

With the crowd roaring for defense and the home team up by one, it was up to the Crimson (13-13, 5-7 Ivy) to come up with a stop against the defiant Big Red (19-9, 9-3).

Cornell junior Ryan Wittman shot the ball with less than ten seconds to play, but Harvard junior Jeremy Lin made it hard for him to get a good look. The ball bounced off the rim and headed towards the stands when Wittman recovered the rebound, calling for a controversial time out as he fell out of bounds.

“We didn’t want to do anything that was going to bail them out,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We wanted no silly fouls or anything like that.”

The Big Red then had 3.9 seconds left to take a final shot. Cornell inbounded the ball to guard Louis Dale, who drove straight into Crimson freshman Keith Wright, trying to draw contact. Wright, however, swatted the ball away as the clock wound down, giving Harvard its second straight victory this weekend, by a final score of 71-70.

“We kept huddling up and saying that we needed to buckle down,” senior Drew Housman said. “It was great to see that because I personally have lost a lot of games coming down the wire like that in my career, so it was really cool to have one go the other way, especially tonight.”

Seniors Evan Harris, captain Andrew Pusar, and Housman won their final game at home in a close encounter with Cornell that has become typical as of late. The previous two Harvard–Cornell matchups at Lavietes Pavilion have ended by the same one point margin with the teams splitting the pair of contests. This time around it was Harvard taking the win in front of a near-capacity crowd.

The Big Red started out the game strong, racing to an 8-2 lead. But an emphatic dunk by Wright in the 16th minute signaled to Cornell that the Crimson wasn’t going to repeat its lackluster first-half performance in Ithaca two weeks ago. Harvard started chipping away when the score was 19-12 with a clutch three pointer by freshman Oliver McNally followed by a layup from Lin. Housman was then fouled and made both free throws, getting Harvard within striking distance.

Cornell tried to pull away, scoring two baskets, but freshman Peter Boehm responded with a three pointer. The Big Red wasted another possession to keep the Crimson at bay, and Lin made them pay, giving Harvard its first lead of the game at 27-26 with a trey from long distance. But Cornell ended up finishing the last three and a half minutes of the half on a 7-3 run, taking back the lead.

It was all Crimson from the beginning of the second half, with the team flexing its offensive muscle with a 14-3 run. But Wittman had other plans, keeping the Big Red in the game and giving it a brief 55-54 lead with two three pointers and jumper. Harvard responded with a layup from Pusar, and the two teams continued trading baskets throughout the rest of the half. Free throw shooting proved to be key in the final stretch, with the Crimson going 14-for-17 compared to Cornell’s 8-for-14. Cornell shot a measly 56.3 percent from the free throw line for the game.

Housman converted a layup with two minutes left to give Harvard its final basket. Down 71-67, the Big Red attempted to pull out the comeback, led by Wittman once again. He made a jumper and then had a chance to tie the game up after getting fouled by Wright.

Wittman made his first free throw, but couldn’t come through on the second. The Crimson got the ball back, but it wasted a final opportunity to solidify its lead. Housman ran the clock down and didn’t get off his three-point shot in time, hindered by a feisty Cornell defense. But the Harvard defense came up big, giving the Crimson its third-straight win.

Housman and Lin had strong showings, each tallying 20 points and four assists.

“I just can’t say enough about the way how Housman has played for us over the last few weeks,” Amaker said. “I think he’s been the catalyst for our team. [Cornell] is a very good basketball team, a tough team, and with the way we’ve been playing lately and to win this way, we’re very proud of our kids right now.”

SIDEBAR: Seniors Lead Crimson to Upset in Last Home Game

By Ted Kirby
The Crimson
March 1, 2009

In their final game at Lavietes Pavilion, seniors Drew Housman, Andrew Pusar, and Evan Harris put in one of their best collective efforts in their four years on the Harvard men’s basketball team. The trio lead the Crimson to a thrilling one-point win over league-leading Cornell before lots of family and friends on Senior Night.

Housman, playing in his team-record 111th game, paced the team with a shared team-best 20 points and played excellent defense on reigning league Player of the Year Louis Dale. Pusar, the team’s captain, went 31 minutes, including 19 in the second half during which he scored all five of his points and helped spearhead Harvard’s tenacious defensive effort, as the high-flying visitors made just 13-of-30 shots after the break. Big man Harris had six points and five rebounds while battling the taller and deeper Big Red frontcourt.

“We talked about having to fight and compete because we knew that was how Cornell would play,” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said. “I thought we brought that, and I thought our seniors led us in every way. I was very pleased for those guys.”

For Housman, this was the fourth straight game he led or co-led the team in scoring. His offensive game was all over the court, scoring inside, outside, and from the foul line, where he was 7-of-9. After eight points before halftime, he was nearly perfect after the break, making 4-of-5 field-goal shots. He started scoring a minute-and-a-half in, driving by for a layup to give Harvard its first lead of the half, 36-35. Seven minutes later, he faked and drove to the lane and buried a shot to put his team up 54-50. His third basket of the half came with eight minutes to play. Dribbled around for an open look, he nailed a shot as the shot clock ran down to make it 61-58 in the Crimson’s favor.

“I can’t say enough about the way Housman has played for us these past few weeks,” Amaker said. “He’s been the catalyst for our team.”

Housman scattered free throws around those baskets, including a clutch pair with his team down 57-56, when he shook off a missed front end of a one-and-one situation on the previous possession to nail both ends and go back in front. He added four assists, including two on consecutive possessions in the first half when he found teammates for threes and erased a 26-21 deficit. On the defensive end, he frequently marked the explosive Dale and helped limit the star point guard to an ugly 3-of-12 night from the field and six turnovers.

Pusar’s gritty performance in the second half began with a fast-break layup, and he scored again with an excellent driving layup midway through to regain the lead at 56-55 to counter an explosive Big Red run. But his biggest play didn’t show up in the boxscore.

With the team up 69-67 and under three minutes left, a missed Harvard three bounced off the rim towards a group of players. But the captain was the first to touch it, and he batted it back to his roommate Housman. The point guard then took it to the hoop for the team’s final points of the night, which proved to be enough.

“That was a great hustle play on Andy’s part,” Housman said.

“He’s playing the four at like 5’11, so that’s great of him,” Housman joked of the 6’2 Pusar.

Harris fouled out with six minutes left but not before leaving his mark on the contest as he put in a game effort for the undermanned Harvard frontcourt and prevented his team from being overrun down low. He didn’t attempt any free throws on offense but attacked the rim on occasion to draw fouls on Cornell defenders and get his team into the bonus.

“Evan was fantastic,” Pusar said. “He is so athletic and disrupts the other team’s offense so much, and he was really good at posting very hard. His offensive-defensive combination is a great advantage to our team. We couldn’t have won without him.”

For three players, who had been a part of so many last second losses in their four years with the program—with a crushing last-second loss to the same Cornell team last year—there were few better ways to end their time at Lavietes than with an all-out gutsy effort against the team everyone thought would breeze through the Ivy League.

“It feels awesome,” Pusar said. “We’re playing the best team in the league [in] our last night here. I’ve been so appreciative and happy to play with some great guys and great coaches. To come out on top, it is a great team win. We’re really proud of ourselves, we worked hard, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”

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Post Game: Towson

John Vaughan diving into the front row, in case you missed it.












Pictures from offwing.com

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Cornell Basketball in the News

References to Cornell Basketball in the news media today...

From the Boston Herald:

Harvard makes Keith Wright move late

Jeremy Lin and Drew Housman scored 20 points each to help Harvard secure a 71-70 win against Cornell at Lavietes Pavilion last night.

On the game’s final possession, the Big Red’s Louis Dale dribbled to the right side of basket and rose up for the potential game-winning jumper. Keith Wright of Harvard (13-13) contested the shot and came down with the rebound as time expired. Wright finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

The second half was a showcase of two of the Ivy League’s top three scorers in Lin and Ryan Wittman of Cornell (19-9). Lin scored 14 of his points and Wittman had 16, including 13 during a four-minute stretchIn its home finale, Harvard kept Cornell from securing at least a share of its second-consecutive Ivy title.

From the Ithaca Journal:

Harvard hands Cornell third Ivy League loss

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Louis Dale's contested shot in the lane didn't fall, and Harvard escaped on Senior Night with a 71-70 victory over Cornell tonight in an Ivy League men's basketball game.

The outcome sets up a huge home weekend on March 6-7 for Cornell, which hosts Penn and Princeton. The Big Red (19-9, 9-3) can win the league title outright with a win over Penn and Princeton loss, or two wins.

Ryan Wittman scored 24 points in the loss, hitting 10 of 18 shots.

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Cornell Athletics Recap of Cornell at Harvard

Harvard Keeps Men's Hoops Title Chances On Hold With 71-70 Victory
CornellBigRed.com

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Junior Ryan Wittman had 24 points, but the Harvard offense was efficient throughout as the Crimson escaped with a 71-70 victory over Cornell on Saturday evening at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson (13-13, 5-7 Ivy) shot 52 percent from the floor in picking up a Senior Day victory over the Big Red (19-9, 9-3 Ivy).

Wittman connected on 10-of-18 field goals and added five rebounds and three assists, but only Jeff Foote also reached double figures for the visitors with 12 points. Brian Kreefer had an efficient seven points and three rebounds off the bench, while Alex Tyler notched six points, two steals and two blocked shots. Junior Louis Dale had eight points, eight rebounds and five assists, but shot just 3-of-12 from the floor and committed six turnovers. The Big Red shot just 43 percent from the field after halftime.

The backcourt of Jeremy Lin and Drew Housman controlled the pace throughout and each tallied 20 points and four assists. Housman did his damage from the line, going 7-of-9 as the home team made 20-of-25 free throws, including 14-of-17 in the second half. Keith Wright added 11 points and eight rebounds in the win.

For the third straight year, the game at Lavietes Pavilion came down to the final play, and for the second time in three years, that was to the benefit of the home team. After the Big Red's miraculous comeback from five points down with under 30 seconds to play last year for the win, this one had the same type feel. With the ball and trailing 71-70, Wittman missed a jumper with six seconds, but chased the missed shot down in the corner and was able to call timeout with 3.9 seconds to play. Cornell inbounded the ball to Dale, who took two dribbles into the lane and was bumped by a pair of defenders, but the junior didn't get the call and the Crimson celebrated the upset victory.

Cornell came out of the gates smoking, hitting six of its first eight shots, including a pair of Reeves 3-pointers, to take a 19-10 at the 12:16 mark. The Crimson got right back in the game as Cornell's offense sputtered late, and took the lead on a 3-pointer by Lin with 3:31 left in the half. After a Tyler layup put Cornell back up one at 28-27, Keith Wright answered with a layup. The Big Red responded in kind with Dale's only 3-pointer of the game with 1:59 remaining in the half to make it 31-29, and a Jeff Foote layup on the next possession sent the road team into the break up three.

The second half started with a bang for the Crimson after a Foote jumper in the lane made it a five-point game on the Big Red's first possession. Harvard went on a 14-3 run to grab an eight-point lead (44-36) with 16:40 left. For the next five minutes, it was the Wittman show. The junior hit every conceivable shot imaginable -- a baseline pull-up on an inbounds, a floater in the lane, a 3-pointer off a screen on the wing, a pull-up trey -- to get Cornel lthe lead back at 55-54with 11:07 left. But when Drew Housman hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe with 9:33 left, the defending Ivy champs wouldn't lead again. Cornell would tie twice, the last time at 64-64 when Dale hit a duck-under layup in the lane with 4:25 left.

The visitors had two chances in the final four minutes to hit tying free throws, but both Foote and Wittman missed 1-of-2 shots from the stripe. Wittman's jumper with 2:14 to play cut the four-point deficit in half, but Cornell would only get a free throw by Wittman the rest of the way.

Cornell closes out the regular season next weekend when it meets Penn on Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m. and Princeton on Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m., with both games taking place at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall.

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Harvard Athletics Recap of Crimson 71-70 Win Over Cornell

Crimson Turns Back League-Leading Cornell, 71-70
GoCrimson.com

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Drew Housman and Jeremy Lin each had 20 points Saturday night and the Harvard Crimson downed Ivy League-leading Cornell by a score of 71-70 at Lavietes Pavilion.

Housman, playing in his final home game on Senior Night, converted a hotly-contested layup with 2:30 remaining to put Harvard ahead, 71-67. Lost in the final stat sheet was a huge effort from fellow senior Andrew Pusar who kept a loose ball alive. Then things got really interesting in front of a near capacity crowd.

Cornell’s Ryan Wittman immediately answered Housman with a baseline jumper and added one of two free throws shortly afterward to pull within what turned out to be the final margin. The teams traded misses and Harvard committed a shot clock violation to give Cornell one last chance with 35 seconds left. The Big Red held the ball until 10 seconds left and fed Wittman on the right wing. Wittman drove middle but was hampered by Lin, forcing an awkward double clutch shot attempt from the junior. The ball clanged hard off the backboard but caromed toward the right corner of the gym where Wittman clung to the ball. Falling out of bounds, Cornell was granted a timeout with 3.9 seconds left to set up a frantic finish.

After a timeout, the ball was inbounded to Louis Dale who drove into Keith Wright and the heart of the Crimson defense. Trying to draw contact, Dale leaned in but was rejected by Wright as the Crimson came away with the win.

Harvard, winners of three straight, improves to 13-13 overall and 5-7 in the Ivy League. Cornell will have to wait another week to possibly clinch its second consecutive league title and falls to 19-9 overall, 9-3 in the league.

The teams traded leads early in a game that never lacked energy and timely plays. The Big Red took a 35-30 lead on the opening possession of the second half but Harvard rallied with a 14-1 run keyed by seven points from Lin. With Harvard now leading 44-36, Wittman tried to put Cornell on his back and scored 13 points in just four minutes to regain the lead for the visitors, 55-54, with 11:07 left. Wittman’s hot streak came to an end with a variety of Harvard players converging on him and the Crimson would lead for the final 9:33 of play.

Wright finished his evening with 11 points (4-7 FG) and a game-high eight rebounds going toe-to-toe with seven-footer Jeff Foote, who scored 12 points but was in foul trouble throughout much of the game. Housman and Lin finished with four assists each and Harvard had more assists (12) than turnovers (11). The Crimson also helped itself with a good night at the charity stripe, shooting 20-for-25.

Wittman scored a game-high 24 on 10-for-18 shooting.

Harvard shot over 59 percent in the second half, making 13 of 22 attempts.

Harvard returns to action next weekend in the final week of Ivy League play. The Crimson travels to Brown on Friday night and finishes at Yale on Saturday.

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