Yale Falls To Quinnipiac In Double Overtime To Start Season
Zaid Hearst scored 35 points and recorded 11 rebounds to lead Quinnipiac over Yale 88-85 in double overtime on Friday evening. Ousmane Drame added 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bobcats, but his biggest contribution was the 7 blocks he recorded. Justin Sears had 23 points and 12 rebounds, but his night was plagued by a poor second half. Javier Duren led Yale in scoring with 26 points.
The first half saw Yale open up a small lead from time to time, but Quinnipiac never let the game get away from them. Yale led 33-22 with over 6 minutes to go in the first half, but the Bobcats closed the deficit to 33-28 before Yale took a 40-38 lead at the break.
In the second half, Sears was held in check and did not score his first points until there was 1:51 remaining in the half. Drame recorded 5 blocks in the second half including one in the waning seconds on Duren’s attempt with 6 seconds left. That block came after Drame made a layup and then missed the ensuing free thrown. The game went to overtime tied at 67.
The Bobcats looked on their way to victory in the first overtime with a 75-71 lead. Sears made a layup to make it 75-73 and Kasim Chandler was fouled on a three pointer to give Quinnipiac a great chance. However, he made only one of the three shots before Jack Montague hit a three with 14 seconds left to force a second overtime.
The second overtime was all about Quinnipiac holding onto the lead and not letting go. Hearst and Justin Harris both knocked down free throws to ice the game and give them the opening win.
Montague had 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting. Sears finished 8 of 19 and converted 7 of his 10 free throws. Yale shot 38.5% from the floor (30 of 78) while hitting 31.8% of their threes (7 of 22). They knocked down 18 of 23 free throws (78.3%) while committing only 10 turnovers.
Quinnipiac had 5 scorers in double digits (Hearst, Drame, Evan Conti, Kasim Chandler, and Justin Harris). They went 32 of 69 as a team (46.4%) from the floor and hit 5 of 19 threes (26.3%). They went 20 of 30 from the charity stripe and had 16 turnovers.
Yale (0-1) takes on Newbury College at home on Monday night. Quinnipiac (1-0) faces La Salle on Tuesday night.
#25 Harvard Overcomes Slow Start to Beat MIT
Early on Harvard found themselves in a close game, but a strong close to the first half allowed them to win 73-52 over MIT. Both Siyani Chambers and Wesley Saunders scored 15 points each to lead the Crimson.
MIT went toe-to-toe with Harvard early on and held a 22-21 lead with under 10 remaining in the first half. However, a 10-0 run by Harvard led them to a 31-22 lead with the Crimson eventually leading 42-27 at halftime.
Harvard’s depth showed in the second half, but there were stretches where the Crimson just appeared off. That is not totally out of the norm early in the season, but that will need to be corrected for Tommy Amaker’s club as will the 15 turnovers committed by the Crimson.
Justin Pedley had 19 points on 7 of 15 shooting for MIT. Tim Butala added 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting while the Engineers went 18 of 45 (40%) from the floor. They also connected on 6 of 18 three pointers.
In addition to Chambers and Saunders scoring 15 apiece, Steve Moundou-Missi, Jonah Travis, and Kenyatta Smith all scored 8 points. Harvard went 24 of 44 from the floor (54.5%) while connecting on 7 of the 13 shots from beyond the arc (53.8%).
Harvard (1-0) faces Holy Cross on Sunday at 5:30 PM EST.
Princeton Wins Close Battle With Rider
Princeton went 6 for 6 in the final 66 seconds of the game to put away Rider, 64-58. The Tigers’ Spencer Weisz led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed 6 boards.
The game started slowly with both teams failing to register a point until 2:31 had elapsed on the clock. Neither team was able to take a commanding lead in the first half, though Princeton managed to lead 21-14 at the 7:56 mark. However, Rider did well to trim the deficit to 21-20 thanks to four points from Teddy Okerafor in 41 seconds. Princeton took a 28-25 lead at the break.
Rider began the second half with a 10-2 run to take the 35-30 lead. It was eventually extended to 41-32 before Hans Brase drained a three to cut the deficit to 41-35. It did not take long for Princeton to come back all the way with Brase draining another three to tie the game at 43.
The game continued to be close until Amir Bell hit a three point shot to make it 58-51. The Tigers would drain the final 6 free throws to win 64-58.
Teddy Okerafor was the only player with double-digits for Rider at 16 points. He was 6 of 14 from the floor including going 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. The Broncs went 25 of 57 from the floor (43.9%) and 6 of 17 from beyond the arc (35.3%). The Broncs only had 4 free throw attempts, hitting two of them.
In addition to Weisz having 18 points, Brase added 12 points all from three pointers, as well as 8 rebounds. He finished 4 of 7 from three point land and 4 of 10 from the floor. Ben Hazel contributed 9 points and 7 boards while Steven Cook also had 9 points. The Tigers went 19 of 43 from the floor (44.2%) and 9 of 24 from three point range (37.5%). The Tigers went 17 of 20 from the free throw line.
Rider (0-1) faces another Ivy League opponent on Tuesday on the road in Penn. Princeton (1-0) faces George Mason on the road on Sunday afternoon.
Columbia Loses On Late Layup
Columbia tried to cling to a 56-55 lead, but Rayshaun McGrew’s layup with 7 seconds left gave Stony Brook the 57-56 victory.
Columbia played strong to start the game and led 26-12 with 5:51 left in the first half. After that, however, Stony Brook, led by McGrew and Carson Puriefoy, made it 31-25 deficit. McGrew and Puriefoy scored 9 of the final 13 points to give Stony Brook momentum heading into halftime.
Columbia led 36-27 early in the second half, but Stony Brook’s 6-0 run made it a 3 point game. Still, Columbia was able to keep Stony Brook at bay and not allow them to take a lead. With 7 minutes remaining, the Lions led 51-44. Puriefoy ran off 5 points a little later to make it 54-49 with over 3 minutes remaining.
The final sequence that led to Columbia’s loss was all about Stony Brook controlling the glass. They grabbed four offensive rebounds including the final one that led to McGrew’s game winning layup. Maodo Lo‘s three point attempt was no good as Stony Brook pulled out the win.
Maodo Lo finished with a game-high 19 points on 7 of 16 shooting including 3 of 6 from beyond the three point line. Chris McComber had 13 points on 4 of 8 shooting, all from beyond the arc. Steve Frankoski had 11 points as well. The Lions went 21 of 48 from the floor (43.8%) and 10 of 24 from beyond the arc (41.7%). The only managed to hit 4 of their 13 free throw lines.
Both McGrew and Puriefoy had 14 points for Stony Brook, though McGrew did most of his damage from the free throw line (6 of 8). Jameel Warney contributed 12 points and 15 boards. They went 22 of 54 as a team (40.7%) and were 3 of 9 from beyond the three point line. They went a paltry 10 of 21 (47.6%) from the charity stripe.
Columbia (0-1) takes on Wagner on Tuesday night. Stony Brook (1-0) travels to face Georgia on Tuesday night as well.
Cornell Shocks George Mason in Season Opener
Shonn Miller and Robert Hatter both dropped 21 points to lead Cornell past George Mason 68-60 on Friday night. Cornell won only 2 games all of last year including just one win against Division I opposition.
From the start, Cornell made their intentions known with Hatter, Miller, and Galal Cancer accounting for the first 20 points scored by the Big Red. The game remained close even as Miller accounted for the final 11 points for Cornell in the first half. At the break, Cornell led 34-31.
The second half started very slow for the Patriots. They missed their first 5 shots and fell behind 41-31 after three and a half minutes. Both teams struggled from the floor as points were at a huge premium in the first 7 minutes of the second half. It would turn out that the points were harder to come by for George Mason.
David Onuorah’s jumper at the 8:43 mark gave the Big Red a 53-40 lead. The combination of Hatter and Miller continued to be strong down the stretch as they did enough to keep the lead at double digits until a late three pointer made it 67-60 with less than 20 seconds left.
Miller went 7 of 14 from the floor including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. He also had 13 boards and 2 blocks. Hatter was more efficient by going 7 of 10 from the floor and 3 of 5 from three point range. Devin Cherry added 9 points and 10 boards as the third-leading scorer for Cornell. The Big Red went 21 of 47 (44.7%) from the floor and 9 of 18 from beyond the arc. They went 17 of 27 (63%) from the charity stripe and committed 16 turnovers, making their game even more impressive.
George Mason was led by Patrick Holloway who had 22 points on 7 of 18 shooting (4 of 11 from beyond the arc). Jalen Jenkins added 10 points. The Patriots went 21 of 68 from the floor (30.9%) and 7 of 27 from three point range (25.9%). They managed to only hit 11 of their 22 free throws and committed just 5 turnovers.
Cornell (1-0) will look to equal last season’s win total on the road at Loyola-Maryland on Sunday. George Mason (0-1) takes on another Ivy League foe, Princeton (1-0), on Sunday.
Brown Easily Gets Past St. Peter’s
Brown ended the first half and started the second half with scoring bursts to beat St. Peter’s 70-58 on Friday evening. Three players scored in double figures for the Bears to open the season with a win.
It was an even start to the game for both teams before Brown went on a 13-2 run to end the first half and led 32-22 at the break. They started the second half with a 12-2 run to take a 20 point lead at 44-24 and the Bears were on cruise control from that point on.
St. Peter’s had three players who finished in double figures. Welton Quadir had 16 points and 7 boards, Dominique Marvin had 11 points and 8 rebounds, and Washington Desi had 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting (3 of 7 from three point range). The Peacocks went 22 of 61 (36.1%) from the floor and 6 of 26 from beyond the arc (23.1%).
Tavon Blackmon had 18 points on 4 of 7 shooting while also nailing all 8 of his free throw attempts to lead Brown. Cedric Kuakumensah had 15 points, 6 boards, and 3 blocks on 7 of 9 shooting. Rafael Maia added 13 points while also hitting 8 free throws on 10 attempts. Brown went 20 of 41 on field goals (48.8%) and 6 of 13 from three point range (46.2%). They went 24 of 30 from the free throw line (80%).
St. Peter’s (0-1) will have another road game on Sunday against Hartford. Brown (1-0) has a home game versus Northwestern on Monday night.