Harvard Dominates Houston
Wesley Saunders scored 24 points to lead the Harvard Crimson past Houston 84-63. The Crimson were efficient all evening long shooting over 50% from the field.
The Crimson asserted themselves by taking a 15-6 lead with over 12 minutes remaining in the first half. The usual suspects were in fine form for Harvard as they built up a 43-34 lead at the break. Saunders scored 12 points in the first half and grabbed 6 rebounds. Siyani Chambers had 8 points in the first half after scoring a total of 3 in his previous two games. The Crimson went 15 of 27 from the field (55.6%) and 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Eric Weary Jr.’s 14 first half points kept Houston within striking distance but they Cougars went just 11 of 34 in the first half (32.4%).
Saunders accounted for the first five points of the second half as the Crimson took a 48-34 lead just 38 seconds after the break. Steve Moundou-Missi had five points over the next few minutes and the Crimson held a 60-40 lead with 12:23 left in the game. Harvard continued to make shots while the Cougars could not cut into the deficit. The Crimson coasted home with an 84-63 win over the Cougars.
In that second half Houston was led by Cavon Baker with 8 points, but on a poor 2 of 7 shooting (he hit 3 of 3 free throws). Houston went 10 of 29 in the second half (34.5%) and 4 of 12 from beyond the arc (33.3%). They hit 5 of 6 free throws (83.3%) and kept their turnovers low with only 6.
Harvard was led by Saunders with another 12 points. Moundou-Missi scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds with the team shooting 50% from the field (13 of 26). They went only 3 of 9 on three pointers (33.3%), but hit 12 of 16 free throws (75%).
For the game, Eric Weary Jr. scored 19 points and grabbed 5 boards while Danrad Knowles and Cavon Baker each had 11 points. The Cougars went 21 of 63 from the field (33.3%), 10 of 25 from beyond the arc (40%), and 11 of 17 from the charity stripe (64.7%).
Harvard ended up with 4 players in double figures. Wesley Saunders had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Steve Moundou-Missi had 14 points and 14 boards, Siyani Chambers scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, and Corbin Miller chipped in 12 points. The Crimson went 28 of 53 from the field (52.8%), 6 of 13 from three point range (46.2%), and 22 of 26 on free throws (84.6%). Harvard out-rebounded Houston 43-32, had 6 blocks, but committed 13 turnovers.
Houston (2-1) faces UT-Pan American (3-0) on Thursday, December 4 for their next game. Harvard (3-1) will face Massachusetts (4-1) on Saturday afternoon in an intriguing battle.
Temple Hangs On To Beat Penn
The Penn Quakers battled to the end, but ultimately came up short against their local rival Temple by a score of 76-67. Mark Williams had 24 points for Temple to lead the Owls to the victory. Penn’s Mike Auger was seen in a walking boot and did not play.
Temple got out to a quick start and held a 12-2 lead four and a half minutes into the game. Penn battled back and took an 18-17 lead after a 16-5 run. With the game deadlocked at 30, Josh Brown hit a three for Temple to take a 33-30 lead, which ignited the Owls to finish the first half on a 14-7 run to lead 44-37 at the break.
Penn was led by Tony Hicks‘ 15 first half points with Darien Nelson-Henry scoring 9 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. The Quakers went 11 of 30 from the field (36.7%), 13 of 15 from the free throw line (86.7%), but committed 11 turnovers. Mark Williams had 13 points in the first half while Quenton Decosey scored 10 points.
Temple expanded their lead to 52-41 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Penn responded with an 18-8 run to make it 60-59 with 9:44 left to play in the game. Penn continued to hang around and trailed 70-67 with 75 seconds left. However, the Quakers would not get another point and Temple hit 6 of their final 7 free throws to salt the game away.
Matt Howard led Penn in points during the second half with 10. Tony Hicks fouled out with over 6 minutes left to put a dent in Penn’s hopes to pull the upset. Greg Louis finished with 8 points on 3 rebounds. The Quakers hot much better in the second half going 12 of 23 from the field (52.2%), but were just 1 of 7 on three pointers (14.3%).
Mark Williams had 11 points in the second half to lead Temple, but he got help from Will Cummings who had 9 points. The Owls went 12 of 25 during the second half (48%) and were only 2 of 9 from beyond the arc (22.2%).
For the game, Tony Hicks was the leading scorer for Penn with 17 points. Matt Howard finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds and Darien Nelson-Henry had 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Quakers went 23 of 53 from the field (43.4%), 3 of 15 from beyond the arc (20%), and 18 of 22 from the free throw line (81.8%). Penn committed 19 turnovers and out-rebounded Temple 37-29.
Temple was led by Williams with 24 points and 5 rebounds. Will Cummings contributed with 16 points and 7 boards, Quenton Decosey had 14 points, and Josh Brown had 11 points. The Owls went 25 of 56 from the field (44.6%), hit only 6 of 24 threes (25%), and made 20 of 26 free throws (76.9%). The Owls had 14 assists and committed 11 turnovers.
Columbia Holds Fairleigh Dickson To 47 Points In Victory
It was another ugly performance for Columbia, but it resulted in something more important: a win. The Lions hit less than 32% of their shots in the 57-47 win over Fairleigh Dickinson.
It was an even contest for much of the first half. FDU took a 14-11 lead halfway through but the final 6 minutes were dominated by Columbia. Tied at 18 with 6:04 left, the Lions embarked on an 11-7 run to close out the first half with a 29-25 lead. Kyle Castlin scored 7 of the final 8 points for Columbia.
The second half began with Columbia taking a 34-25 lead before the Knights battle back to make it 34-33 in favor of Columbia. The Lions made it 40-33 with 14:05 left to play with both teams trading buckets after that. With the score at 43-41, Columbia went on a 9-2 run to take control of the game. From there, it was all about hitting their free throws, which they did. Columbia outscored FDU 28-22 in the second half to win 57-47.
FDU was led by Xavier Harris‘ 12 points on 6 of 7 shooting. He also grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Knights in both points and boards for the game. Mustafaa Jones scored 11 points and Matt MacDonald had 10 points and 6 boards. The Knights went 16 of 44 for the game (36.4%) and hit only 3 of 18 three pointers (16.7%). They went an excellent 12 of 13 from the free throw line (92.3%) while committing 14 turnovers.
Kyle Castlin led Columbia in points, but not because of his shooting from the field. He went 2 of 6 from the floor, but hit 13 of his 14 free throw attempts to finish with 19 points. Maodo Lo had 12 points on 4 of 16 shooting (3 of 12 on three pointers) while Corey Osetkowski had 8 points and 4 rebounds. Isaac Cohen scored 6 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as well. The Lions went 14 of 44 from the field (31.8%) and hit 7 of 24 three pointers (29.2%). Columbia went 22 of 28 from the free throw line (78.6%) and committed 12 turnovers. The Lions out-rebounded the Knights 35-28.
Fairleigh Dickinson (2-2) takes on Lafayette (3-1) on Sunday. Columbia (3-1) stays home to play American (3-2) Saturday.