Crimson hit their stride

Cruise past Big Red, face Penn for crown

PHILADELPHIA — There was worry, not panic. Concern, not a “world is coming to an end” kind of dread on struggling Harvard’s bench.

And while little seemed to be going right for the No. 1 seeds in the second annual Ivy League tournament — down by as many as seven points to a 12-15 Cornell team — there was still a sense of confidence.

“Coach always talks about momentum going into the half,” said sophomore guard Christian Juzang, whose midcourt buzzer-beater capped a late first-half surge that turned a deficit into a fivepoint halftime lead.

The Crimson took apart the Big Red in the second half to win going away, 7455, yesterday at the Palestra.

“We stuck with our other principles pretty well,” Juzang said. “Did a good job playing defense and rebounding. Shots weren’t falling but we were able to catch some momentum, which gave us a push in the second half.”

Harvard advances to today’s championship game against co-Ivy regular-season champ and No. 2 seed Penn, which destroyed No. 3 Yale, 80-57, in the nightcap.

They split their previous meetings, the Quakers outlasting Tommy Amaker’s crew on this same Palestra floor two weeks ago, at which time it appeared Penn would likely win the title outright.

But Yale changed all that with a last-second win over Penn last week in New Haven, Conn., making Harvard the top seed with the seemingly “easier” matchup. But it sure didn’t look that way early, as Cornell kept converting on backdoor cuts and hitting other high-percentage shots, while Harvard kept throwing up bricks.

“Tournaments can cause you to have a lot of energy and wasted energy,” said Amaker, whose club overcame a 6-for-23 start to knock down seven treys in a 10-minute period to break it open. “I think we were a little gassed.

“Some of that comes from the excitement, the fans and families and all the pieces that come with it. We weren’t playing well. We needed to settle down. I was just disappointed in our efficiency on offense.

“We took bad shots. Maybe there was some nervousness, because we’d had hard games against them.”

After Juzang (four 3’s) started bombing away and Ivy Player of the Year Seth Towns and big man Chris Lewis began to do their thing in the second half, the Crimson finally knew they were safe.

“Our role is to stay composed,” said Towns, who registered a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds. “They were making some plays early and hitting some shots, so we just had a do the little things.

“Now we’re looking forward to play in the championship game.”

He might reconsider if he stuck around to watch 23-8 Penn dominate Yale from start to finish with A.J. Brodeur muscling for 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Amaker knows the Crimson will be tested, especially having to again play on the Quakers’ home floor.

“Absolutely,” he conceded “but what can you do? They’re co-champions with us, which speaks for itself how wonderful a year they had. Steve (Donahue) has done a tremendous job bringing that team along.

“Their pieces fit real well together, so it’s going to be a tough matchup for us because of their style of play and the players they have. We’re going to have our hands full.”

The Quakers can’t wait. “We’re ready to play them (today at noon),” said Brodeur, a native of Northboro. “We did a lot of things differently the second time we played them, but we still have some things to perfect.

“But we’re excited.”

A bid to the NCAA tournament is at stake today. For both Harvard and Penn, it seems only right.

Because both teams know it doesn’t get any better than this.