PROVIDENCE, R.I. – History repeated itself on Friday night, and fortunately for Harvard, it was in a good way. Their 74-68 win at Brown looked a little like what happened less than two weeks earlier.
In the first half, Brown was unstoppable, much like less than two weeks earlier in Cambridge. The Bears got just about anything they want, especially the duo of Sean McGonagill and Tucker Halpern. They led by as many as 15 and had a double-digit lead for most of the half. As if it wasn’t enough, with about a minute left in the half, as Halpern was being guarded by former teammate Kyle Casey, he hoisted a three-pointer that was almost a set shot from the top of the key that dropped to put Brown up 41-30, which was the halftime score.
Brown shot over 57 percent from the field in the first half including 7-14 from long range. It left an obvious question: did they have a better second half in them this time around? Well, they did, but not by much – and it wasn’t enough.
Early on, it looked like history repeating itself, as Harvard scored the first six points. They then methodically came back to take their first lead at 48-47, but Brown got the lead right back. Harvard then took the lead for good, leading by as many as eight.
At the nerve center of so much of it was Oliver McNally. The Crimson’s emotional leader once again made a number of big plays and was essential to the win, as he so often is even if his numbers don’t leap out at you. It just so happened that on this night, they did, as he led them with 20 points while handing out four assists (with no turnovers) and had five steals. More than that, he made plays at crucial junctures, whether it was keeping them within striking distance in the first half with 13 points or the runner he hit while getting fouled right after a steal with under 11 minutes to play.
“We don’t come out of here this evening with a victory without Oliver McNally in every way,” head coach Tommy Amaker said. “His overall performance was absolutely outstanding.”
With Brown knocking off Princeton last weekend, the stage was set for next Saturday’s game in Cambridge to mean everything. If everything holds as expected, a Crimson win in that game would give them an outright Ivy League title. A Princeton win would likely clinch it, although the Tigers still have to go to arch-rival Penn three night later for their regular season finale.
But the Crimson had to get through three more games first, and overlooking any of them wouldn’t be in their best interests. In the case of Brown, there were plenty of reasons to think about the game in front of them, most notably what the Bears did the past two Saturdays.
“We knew this was a dangerous game,” said McNally. “It can be called a trap game because of their record, but if you watch film and see how dangerous they are offensively, you know why we came in and prepared really hard for this game.”
Harvard now heads to New Haven to take on Yale on Saturday night. A night before Brown had a big first half up in Cambridge, Yale had a chance to knock them off and alter the league race dramatically. There’s also the rivalry aspect, and it will be Senior Night at Yale, so the Crimson aren’t looking past this one, either. They also know they have to play better, because they know they can’t tempt fate with bad first halves forever.
“We realize that we have a problem with starting the game out poorly, and we really need to fix that as we go on the last few games of the year,” said McNally.
No matter what happens, next Saturday’s game against Princeton will still be played. For now, Harvard has done what they can to make that matchup matter a great deal, even if it meant history repeating itself on Friday night.
