Harvard Beats Brown 98-93 in OT Classic
Sunday, March 09, 2014
Brown had an opportunity to knock off Ivy league Champion Harvard Saturday evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center in senior Sean McGonagill’s final collegiate regular season game. But the Crimson had other ideas, holding off the Bears for a thrilling 98-93 overtime win in the final regular season game for both teams.
Brown finishes its regular season at 15-13 overall and 7-7 in the Ivy League, while Harvard moves on to the NCAA Tournament with a 26-4 record, 13-1 in Ivy play.
With the score tied, 84-84, with 2:07 remaining in regulation following two free throws by freshman Leland King, Brown pulled ahead, 85-84, on a free throw by Tavon Blackmon with 1:17 remaining.
Crimson sophomore Siyani Chambers connected on a trey with 1:03 left to give the Crimson an 87-85 advantage. Freshman Leland King tied the game, 87-87, with 32 seconds left on the clock, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, Wes Saunders connected on two free throws with 1:31 left to give Harvard the lead for good, 91-89. Laurent Rivard knocked down a trey with 33 seconds left to extend Harvard’s lead to 94-89.
McGonagill’s trey with 16 seconds left in overtime drew the Bears to within two points, 95-93, but that was as close as the Bears would get down the stretch.
McGonagill scored 26 points to complete his storied Brown career with several Brown records. He is Brown’s all-time leader in career treys (247), career starts (113), single season treys (91).
A prolific scorer, McGonagill moved past Jason Forte into third place on Brown’s all-time scoring list with 1,608 career points. Only Earl Hunt (2,041 points from 1999-2003) and Arnie Berman (1,668 points from 1969-1972) have scored more points at Brown. He also moved past Forte into second place in Brown career assists with 519.
All five of Brown’s top five scorers were on hand as part of Brown’s 250th Anniversary celebration – Hunt, Berman, Forte (1,597 points from 2001-2005) and Peter Sullivan (1,361 points from 2007-2011).
King exploded for a career high 27 points on 9-of-23 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Freshman Steven Spieth had 13 points, connecting on 8-of-8 free throws and 2-of-3 field goals.
Bears’ sophomore Cedric Kuakumensah registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He also had four blocked shots and completed the season with a Brown record 90 blocked shots which is also the second highest single season total in Ivy history.
Harvard had four players in double figures, led by Steve Moundou-Missi with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Saunders netted 19 points, Rivard 18 points and Kyle Casey chipped in with 16 points.
The opening 20 minutes was played at a frenetic pace with the lead changing 14 times and the game tied 11 times. Harvard out-scored the Bears, 12-4, in the final four minutes to grab a 50-44 lead at intermission.
Ironically, the two teams nearly matched the total point output for their last meeting, a 52-45 Harvard win in February.
Brown grabbed its first lead of the second half, 63-61, on a coast-to-coast lay-up by freshman Tavon Blackmon, capping an 8-0 Brown run.
