Aiken comes four-ward to rally Crimson
HARVARD 78 PRINCETON 69
PRINCETON, N.J. — Being surrounded by Ivy League title banners everywhere they looked inside Jadwyn Gymnasium wasn’t bad enough. During timeouts, Princeton’s multitude of championship teams kept marching onto the floor, ranging from lacrosse to soccer to the unbeaten and nationally ranked football team.
But if the folks here expect this year’s Princeton hoops squad to add to that collection, Bryce Aiken and Harvard let them know they may be disappointed. Seemingly in trouble — down six points with 8½ minutes left — Aiken ignited a Crimson surge by sinking a 3-pointer from the corner as he was fouled, then converting the free throw for a rare four-point play.
By the time the Tigers knew what had hit them that six-point lead had turned into a 10-point deficit with Harvard (12-8, 5-2) eventually finishing them off, 78-69.
But if not for Aiken’s 33point heroics, along with Noah Kirkwood’s 16, the bus ride to Philadelphia for tonight’s matchup with Penn might have been a lot less pleasant.
“That was a big moment here for us,” said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, whose club was able to overcome foul-plagued big man Chris Lewis playing only 18 minutes. “Hitting the 3 and getting fouled kept us right there within a possession (down 56-54).
“In games like this you just try to hang around. Then we caught fire a little bit — making a few shots (going 7-for-8 in that stretch, 5-for-6 from behind the arc during a 20-6 run that built a 70-60 cushion with 3:53 left). But Bryce was the catalyst for that. Guys got confidence from his play, his energy and his daring. For a team like ours that’s needed.”
The 6-foot Aiken did his best to downplay it.
“Just doing my part,” said Aiken, who exploded for 18 points in the final 7:34. “That (four-point play) was definitely much needed at the time. We were down six and obviously had a few missed possessions It was a momentum defining shot. Coming into this week we needed to get it together on the road.
“We showed a lot of resilience tonight.”
As a reward they get to take on the Quakers, who escaped in overtime against Dartmouth last night. When last they met it was Penn cutting down the nets at Harvard’s expense in last season’s Ivy League championship game. Amaker cringed at the mere memory. Aiken, meanwhile, is looking forward to facing a team that knocked off reigning NCAA champion Villanova earlier this season.
“The Palestra is probably my favorite place to play on the road,” said Aiken, who shot 10-for-16, including 4-for-7 on 3’s. “That was a tough loss last year for the program and the team.
“It will mean a lot to play there again and hopefully pull out a ‘W.’ ”
That’s never easy when you have to play both the Tigers and Quakers back-toback on the road.
“That’s Ivy League basketball,” Aiken said with a laugh. “What you get every weekend.
“This was a big weekend for us coming in and we approached it with a head-on mentality. We dropped the second one (at home to Cornell) last weekend, so hopefully we can bounce back (tonight) and get that one.”
And in the process silence another hostile crowd expecting big things.