Below is the Ivy League Basketball Roundup for Saturday, November 29, 2014. Four more Ivy League teams were in action – Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and Penn. None of the teams were in a tournament like we saw in the previous few days.
Wesley Saunders Leads Harvard Past Massachusetts
Wesley Saunders scored the last 6 points for Harvard including two free throws in the final 38 seconds to allow the Crimson to hold on for a 75-73 over Massachusetts on Saturday.
Both teams were stroking the ball early in the first half. UMass had a 16-10 lead with 14 minutes left in the first half and with 7 minutes left it was 31-24 in favor of UMass. The scoring slowed down in the final quarter of the first half with with only 10 points combined from both teams in the final five minutes. The Minutemen held a 38-32 lead at the break.
UMass was led by 9 points from Trey Davis on 3 of 5 shooting and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. UMass shot 48.1% in the first half and were 3 of 5 on three point shots. Harvard was led by Saunders with 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting. The Crimson hit 46.7% from the field and hit only 1 of 5 three pointers.
Both teams were strong from the field early in the second half. UMass led 43-36 before a 9-2 run by Harvard tied the game at 45. Both teams continued to duke it out with neither team asserting themselves. With 1:17 left, the game was tied at 69, but 5 quick points from Saunders let them take a 74-71 lead. Derrick Gordon made a layup to cut the deficit to 1 point. Siyani Chambers and missed the front end of a one-and-one, but a foul by UMass put Saunders on the line and he went 1 of 2 to make it 75-73. Trey Davis tried a miracle three with a second left was no good.
Cady LaLanne had 8 points and 6 rebounds in the second half as UMass shot 48% from the field. They hit 1 of 4 three pointers and made 10 of 15 free throws (66.7%). Saunders really got going in the final 20 minutes with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting. The Crimson shot 54.8% from the field and hit 4 of 10 three pointers. In addition, they committed only 3 turnovers.
For the game, UMass had 5 players finished in double figures. Cady LaLanne and Trey Davis had 13 points apiece with LaLanne also grabbing 13 boards. Maxie Esho scored 12 points and grabbed 5 boards while Derrick Gordon had 12 points. Jabarie Hinds chipped in 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting as well. UMass shot 25 of 52 from the field (48.1%) and 4 of 9 from beyond the arc (44.4%). They hit 19 of 28 free throws (67.9%), out-rebounded Harvard by a slight margin of 33 to 32, and committed 12 turnovers.
Saunders led the way for Harvard with 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting. Kenyatta Smith had 11 points and 7 rebounds to aid Saunders great game. The Crimson went 31 of 61 from the field (50.8%) and 5 of 15 from beyond the arc (33.3%). They made 8 of 14 free throws (57.1%) and committed only 8 turnovers.
Massachusetts (5-2) faces LSU (4-2) in Baton Rouge on Tuesday. Harvard (4-1) stays home to face Northeastern (5-1) on Wednesday night.
Cornell Dispatches Binghamton On The Road
Shonn Miller’s 11 points and 11 rebounds paced Cornell to a 68-54 win over Binghamton.
Both teams started the first half with mini-runs. Cornell hit a three pointer before Binghamton went on a 7-0 run. Cornell responded with a 12-2 run to take a 15-9 lead. That start, and the strong shooting from beyond the perimeter, would lead to a 23-12 lead just before the halfway point in the first half. An 8-0 run from the Bearcats cut that lead to 23-20, but Cornell responded with a 12-7 run to end the first half and a 35-27 lead at the break.
Devin Cherry had 7 first half points and 5 rebounds to lead the Big Red. They shot 42.9% from the field, but hit 9 of 17 threes (52.9%) to allow them to take an 8 point lead. Willie Rodriguez and Romello Walker both had 7 points for Binghamton as they shot 38.5% from the field as a team. They hit 2 of 9 three pointers and struggled on the glass grabbing on 14 boards compared to Cornell’s 21.
Shonn Miller scored the first 6 points for Cornell in the second half to get them going on offense. The rest of the team followed suit and the defense clamped down to allow the Big Red take a 51-33 lead with 12:38 left in the game. The Big Red would maintain that margin for the rest of the game on their way to a 68-54 win.
Shonn Miller and Robert Hatter led Cornell in the second half with 8 points apiece. Miller also had 8 rebounds. The Big Red shot 48.3% in the second half and went 25% from beyond the arc. Binghamton was led by Yosef Yacob in the second half with 11 points. The Bearcats shot 33.3% from the field and 28.6% from three point range.
Cornell was led by Shonn Miller 11 and 11 performance, but he was not the only player to contribute in a big way. Robert Hatter scored 14 points and Devin Cherry scored 12 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. The Big Red went 26 of 57 from the field (45.6%) and hit 11 of 25 three pointers (44%). Cornell hit 5 of 13 free throws (38.5%) and committed 11 turnovers.
Yacob Yosef had 15 points and 4 rebounds for Binghamton with Romello Walker scoring 10 points and grabbing 7 boards. The Bearcats shot 17 of 47 from the field (36.2%) and hit only 4 of 16 three pointers (25%). They hit 16 of 26 free throws (61.5%) and committed 12 turnovers.
Cornell (4-4) faces Massachusetts-Lowell (4-2) next Saturday, December 6 at home before playing the following two games on the road. Binghamton (1-6) takes on Boston U (1-3) on Wednesday.
Columbia’s Defense Continues Their Stellar Play
Columbia continues to play stifling defense and it has led them to their fourth win a row. Maodo Lo scored 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Lions past American U 52-43.
American grabbed an early 7-2 lead, but Columbia’s defense came alive and took a 16-13 lead with 10:47 to go in the first half. From the 10:47 mark to the 6:44 mark in the first half neither team was able to put a single point on the board. American’s John Schoof hit two free throws to end the scoring drought and eventually led to American taking a 21-18 lead. However, Columbia ended the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 24-21 lead at the break.
American was led by Schoof’s 8 first half points. The Eagles shot 37.5% in the first half and hit only 1 of 4 three pointers. The Lions were led by Lo’s 8 points and Cory Osetkowski with 7 points and 4 rebounds. They shot 45.8% from the field and 12.5% from beyond the arc.
The second half began with American going on a 9-2 run and taking a 30-26 lead. Pee Wee Gardner accounted for 4 points for the Eagles. At that point, the Lions turned the defense up and went on a 16-4 run to take control of the game at 42-34. However, American would continue to stick around getting as close as 44-41 before Columbia closed the game out on an 8-2 run.
The top scorer for American in the second half was Pee Wee Gardner with 6 points. The Eagles shot 34.6% from the field in the second half and hit 2 of 5 free throws. Columbia was led by 12 points from Lo and he also grabbed 9 rebounds. The Lions shot 41.7% in the second half and 23.1% from the perimeter.
For the game, American was led by John Schoof with 11 points. The Eagles went 18 of 50 from the field (36%) and hit 3 of 9 three pointers (33.3%). They went 4 of 6 from the free throw line and committed 10 turnovers.
Columbia was led by the 20 points and 9 rebounds from Maodo Lo. Jeff Coby had 10 points on 4 of 4 shooting as well. The Lions went 21 of 48 from the field (43.8%) and hit only 4 of 21 three pointers (19%). They went 6 of 10 from the charity stripe (60%), committed 9 turnovers, and out-rebounded American 35-29.
American U (4-3) faces a second straight Ivy League opponent on the road Wednesday in the Brown Bears (2-5). Columbia (4-1) faces Loyola (MD) (2-4) on Tuesday.
Penn Cannot Hold On To Late Lead In Loss To Wagner
Penn led for the first 58 minutes, but could not hang on when it mattered the most in a 64-61 loss to Wagner.
Penn got off to great start leading 14-2 eight minutes into the game. Even with 6 minutes left in the half, Penn held a 10 point lead at 21-11. Sam Jones made a layup at the buzzer to give the Quakers a halftime lead of 31-26.
In the first half, Darien Nelson-Henry and Tony Hicks were joint top scorers with 6 points. Three other players, Darnell Foreman, Greg Louis, and Antonio Woods, all had 5 points each. The Quakers hit 61.1% of their shots in the first half and were 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. They did, however, commit 12 turnovers. Wagner was led by 7 points from Marcus Burton. Aaren Edmead had 6 points. The Seahawks shot 41.7% in the first half hit 3 of 10 three pointers.
In the second half, Penn continued to hold on to the lead. Matt Howard had 5 points in a 31 second span to put Penn on top 38-30. Wagner got it down to a 43-41 lead with 13:33 left, but could not get closer until late in the game. Penn held a 58-54 lead with 5:18 left, but a cold streak allowed Wagner to get their first lead of the game at 59-58 with 1:43 left to play. Penn was undone by their cold shooting as they made only 1 bucket in the final 10 minutes of the game. That shot was a three pointer from Sam Jones with 2 seconds left. Wagner made the necessary free throws to win 64-61.
Penn was led in the second half by Matt Howard’s 9 points. They shot well in the second half going 8 of 15 from the field (53.2%), but had to rely on making free throws, which they hit only 60% of in the final 20 minutes. Wagner was led by 13 points from JoJo Cooper and 10 points from Marcus Burton. They shot 46.7% in the second half and hit 7 of 12 free throws (58.3%).
Darien Nelson-Henry had 11 points and 8 rebounds to lead Penn. Greg Louis and Matt Howard both had 9 points. They shot 19 of 33 from the field (57.6%) and hit 4 of 11 three pointers (36.4%). They went 19 of 28 from the free throw line (67.9%), out-rebounded Wagner 29-23, but committed 22 turnovers.
Wagner was led by 17 points from Marcus Burton and 15 points from JoJo Cooper. Wagner went 24 of 54 from the field (44.4%) and hit 6 of 20 three pointers (30%). They went 10 of 16 from the free throw line (62.5%) and committed only 10 turnovers.
Penn (0-5) travels to face Navy (2-5) on Wednesday. Wagner (2-3) faces Maine (0-4) on Tuesday on the road.