Ivy League Basketball Roundup: 12/8/2014
Below is the Ivy League Basketball Roundup for Monday, December 8, 2014. Three Ivy League teams played – Harvard, Yale, and Brown. All of the games were intriguing with Yale going on the road to face the Florida Gators as the most intriguing given their upset of UConn on Friday night.
Harvard Pulls Away From Boston U Late
Wesley Saunders nearly put up a triple-double to help Harvard put away Boston U in the final 5 minutes. Harvard went on to win 70-56 on Monday evening.
It was an even first half for both teams. Harvard led 12-8 after seven and a half minutes, but Boston came back with an 11-2 run to lead 19-14. Harvard would battle back to lead a few minutes later. Late in the half, Corbin Miller hit back-to-back three pointers and Harvard clung to a 34-33 lead at the break.
Boston U was led in the first half with 7 points from Nathan Dieudonne and Blaise Mbargorba. Dieudonne grabbed 7 of Boston’s 13 rebounds in the first half. The Terriers hit 48% from the field while making 50% of their three pointers (3 of 6). Harvard was led by Wesley Saunders with 8 points and 6 assists. Zena Edosomwan and Corbin Miller both contributed 6 points apiece. The Crimson shot 44% from the field and hit 33.3% on three pointers (5 of 15).
Harvard gained the upper hand early in the second half with a 9-2 run in the first 5 minutes to lead 43-35. The Terriers fought back to knot the game at 45 on John Papale’s three pointer with 11:19 left in the game. After a timeout, Saunders responded with a three pointer of his own while Harvard ripped off a 12-2 run to take control of the game. The closest Boston got in the final 5 minutes of the game was 8 points at 57-49.
In the second half Boston shot 32% from the field and hit 2 of 7 three pointers (28.6%). John Papale had 8 points in the second half. Harvard was led by Corbin Miller in the second half with 8 points. Siyani Chambers and Wesley Saunders both scored 7 points. Harvard shot 34.6% from the field in the second half and hit only 2 of 8 three pointers. Their main advantage was from the charity stripe where they went 16 of 17 in the second half (94.1%).
For the game, Boston was led by Blaise Mbargorba with 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Also chipping in 10 points and 4 assists was John Papale. The Terriers went 20 of 49 from the field (40.8%) and hit 5 of 13 three pointers (38.5%). They went 11 of 20 from the free throw line (55%), had 7 steals, and committed just 8 turnovers.
Harvard was led by Wesley Saunders with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Corbin Miller scored 14 points while Siyani Chambers finished with 10 points and 7 assists. The Crimson went 20 of 52 from the field (38.5%) and hit 7 of 23 three pointers (30.4%). The Crimson shot an excellent 92% from the free throw line by hitting 23 of 25 attempts. They out-rebounded Boston 37-27, had 17 assists, 6 blocks, and committed 9 turnovers.
Boston U (2-6) faces Quinnipiac (3-4) Sunday afternoon at home. Harvard (7-1) is sporting a 6 game win streak going into a nice 13 day break. However, they will be faced with a tough game at Virginia (9-0) on December 21.
Florida Obliterates Yale
Just three days after pulling a stunning upset of UConn, Yale got their doors blown off by the Florida Gators and it was not even close. Florida dominated 85-47.
Yale struggled mightily on defense in the first half. Yale led 5-4 at the first TV timeout before the Gators took over with a 15-4 run to make it 19-9 halfway through the first 20 minutes. It did not get any better as the Bulldogs gave up bucket after bucket. Florida led 46-20 at halftime.
Justin Sears had 9 first half points for Yale with the Bulldogs shooting 30.4%. They went 1 of 7 from beyond the arc (14.3%) and committed 9 turnovers. The Gators were on fire shooting 67.7% from the field (21 of 31) and hit 4 of 9 three pointers (44.4%). Michael Frazier II had 15 points in the first half on 6 of 8 shooting (3 of 5 from deep) while Jacob Kurtz came off the bench to contribute 8 points.
The second half was not much better for Yale. The Gators opened with an 11-5 heading into the first TV timeout to lead 57-25. The Gators continued to dominate with another run of 15-4 nearly halfway through the second half. The Gators continued to pour it on, before the Bulldogs scored 8 points in the final two minutes to make the score look only slightly better.
Justin Sears finished with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Jack Montague and Armani Cotton both added 8 points. Yale went 16 of 47 from the field for the game (34%) and hit 4 of 13 three pointers (30.8%). They made 11 of 15 free throws (73.3%), but committed 15 turnovers.
The Gators were scintillating the entire game. Michael Frazier II had 18 points, Dorian Finney-Smith scored 14 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, Chris Walker scored 13 points and grabbed 6 boards, and Jacob Kurtz had 10 points and 6 rebounds. The Gators went 37 of 58 for the game (63.8%) and hit 10 of 19 three pointers (52.6%). They attempted only 4 free throws, hitting one, out-rebounded Yale 33 to 23, had 10 steals, blocked 6 shots, and committed 11 turnovers.
Yale (8-3) has 10 days off before traveling to face Vermont (4-4) on December 18. Florida (4-4) faces Texas Southern (1-6) on Friday.
Brown Pulls Off Road Shocker At Providence
Brown went into the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and shocked Providence 77-67 on Monday evening. Five Bears finished in double figures and the Bears used 10 three pointers to help them pull the upset.
Providence took a slim lead at 7-2 in the opening three minutes before ripped off a 15-0 run led by Cedric Kuakumensah’s 10 points in that run. Providence was able to make a little head way by going on a 10-2 run to trail 19-17 past the midway point of the first half. The Friars would eventually tie the game by going on a 13-5 run to end the half. Tyler Harris scored 5 of the last 7 points and the game was all square at going into halftime.
Brown was led by Cedric Kuakumensah’s 10 early points in the first half. He also grabbed 5 rebounds. The Bears shot 39.3% from the field and hit 38.5% of their three pointers. The Friars shot 39.3% from the field as well, but hit just 1 of 11 three pointers (11.1%) in the first half. LaDontae Henton had 9 points and 4 rebounds while Kris Dunn scored 7 points.
The second half remained even until nearly three quarters of the clock was gone. Back-to-back three pointers by JR Hobbie made it 58-53 then came a heads up play by Hobbie to push the ball up the court quickly and he found Leland King for an easy layup and a 60-53 lead. Henton responded with a three of his own to cut it back to a 4 point deficit. However, the Bears were too much on the free throw line hitting their last 13 in a row to seal the game.
Leland King led Brown with 16 points for the game. Cedric Kuakumensah scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while Steven Spieth also had 15 points and grabbed 7 boards. JR Hobbie had 13 points while Tavon Blackmon had 11 points and 7 assists. The Bears shot 24 of 55 from the field for the game (43.6%) and hit 10 of 23 three pointers (43.5%). Brown hit 19 of 24 free throws (79.2%) and committed 13 turnovers.
Both LeDontae Henton and Kris Dunn scored 16 points for the Friars. Henton also had 8 rebounds while Dunn had 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Tyler Harris scored 13 points and grabbed 6 boards. The Friars went 25 of 63 from the field (39.7%) and hit only 4 of 19 three pointers (21.1%). Providence went 13 of 21 from the free throw line (61.9%), out-rebounded Brown 39 to 36, had 7 steals, blocked 7 shots (Carson Desrosiers had 5), and committed 12 turnovers.
Brown (5-6) has won 4 of their last 5 games and does not play again for two weeks. They face Central Connecticut State (1-7) on December 22 on the road. Providence (6-3) has now lost three in a row and face Rhode Island (5-2) Wednesday at home.