New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Crimson spoils party for Bulldogs at buzzer
NEW HAVEN — The stage was set for an unforgettable night with a packed house inside the John J. Lee Amphitheater on hand to see the Ivy League leading Yale men’s basketball team square off with rival Harvard.
A victory would have given the Bulldogs complete control of the Ivy League race, but the Crimson decided to spoil the party. Bryce Aiken’s buzzer-beating jumper gave the Crimson the 88-86 win and sweep of the season series.
Alex Copeland had tied the game with a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left before Aiken delivered the gamewinning basket to snap Yale’s 14-game home winning streak.
The Bulldogs played much of the second half without leading scorer Miye Oni due to foul trouble. He fouled out after driving to the basket expecting a foul to be called to give him two foul shots. Instead, he was whistled for the foul going for the offensive rebound.
Aiken finished with 28 points for Harvard (14-9). Copeland and Oni had 21 points each for Yale (18-5) which is still in first place.
Kyle Catchings, playing in just his eighth game of the season, hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to give Harvard to lead and set the stage for the wild finish.
The Bulldogs were held to a season low 49 points in a loss to the Crimson of Feb.
1, but they topped that mark in the early stages of the second half.
Coming into Saturday, Yale was one of 15 Division I men‘s teams without any home losses.
Oni picked up his third foul with 16:46 and he headed to the bench with the game tied at 50. Jordan Bruner came out of the game not long after that leaving the Bulldogs without two of its three starting frontcourt players for an extended stretch.
Just 14 seconds after Oni returned to the game, we was called for an offensive foul sending the Ivy League Player of the Year candidate to the bench again. He sat for six more minutes before returning to the game. His first points of the second half come off a steal and dunk with 3:02 remaining. He added a pair of free throws 36 seconds later.
With Harvard up by two points, seniors Copeland, Blake Reynolds and Trey Phills combined for four baskets to give the Bulldogs the 75-68 lead. Back to back baskets by Noah Kirkwood and Christian Juzang pulled Harvard back within three.
Yale came into the game leading the Ivy League in rebounding margin and 3-point percentage defense but the Bulldogs struggled in both areas against Harvard.
Yale came out rolling on offense making its first 10 shots including three 3pointers by Miye Oni as the Bulldogs charged out to a 24-10 lead.
Harvard began chipping away at the lead by finding the range from the perimeter. The Crimson were 6 of 9 on 3-pointers and came all the way back to take the lead twice after 3-pointers and again on a tip in by Mason Forbes of a missed jumper. While Harvard couldn’t miss, the Bulldogs misfired on seven of nine 3-pointers to allow Harvard to shoot itself back into the game. After opening the game feeding the ball inside to senior Blake Reynolds in the opening minutes, the Bulldogs began to settle for contested jumpers as the half moved on. The Bulldogs did take a 44-43 lead at halftime on a pair of Paul Atkinson foul shots with 45 seconds remaining.
Harvard played without leading rebounder Justin Bassey who suffered a lower-body injury early in Friday’s game at Brown. The Crimson rolled out a starting five featuring three freshmen and a sophomore.