Single Digit First Half Dooms Brown Against Harvard
Brown University Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Brown men’s basketball team fell to Harvard 65-50 Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center.“I thought Harvard played really well,” head coach Mike Martin said. “They set the tone early on defensively. They made it hard for us in the first half. Even when we did get some good looks they didn’t go down.“We can’t dig ourselves the holes that we’ve dug ourselves the last two games in the first half. I know it’s not for lack of talent, it’s not a lack of effort.”Kino Lilly Jr. led Brown with 14 points and three assists. Jaylan Gainey posted his second double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Tamenang Choh had six points and a game-high six assists.Paxson Wojcik scored the first basket of the game for either side, a jumper just inside the three-point line, but Harvard went on to score the next 19 points to hold a 19-2 lead with five minutes remaining in the half. Tamenang Choh recorded the next Brown points at 4:54 with a pair of free throws.The halftime whistle came with the Crimson up 29-8.The Bears scored more points in the first 2:43 of the second half than they did in all of the first, opening the second frame on a 10-3 run to make it 32-18.Brown and Harvard traded buckets for the remainder of the game, with neither side ever scoring more than six in a row.The Bears outscored the Crimson 42-36 in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit that was built up in the first half.Brown’s 12.0% shooting percentage in the first was somewhat balanced out by its 55.2% mark in the second half, leaving the Bears at 35.2% for the game. Harvard shot 49.0% over the 40 minutes.“I’ve been fortunate to coach some teams that I’ve really enjoyed working with here at Brown,” Martin said. “This one is at the top of the list. I love coaching these guys, but we’re going through some adversity right now. It’s going to make us stronger, but we’re going through it.“I told them, ‘Let’s embrace it.’ We’ve got another opportunity and let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”The Bears will have a chance to bounce back tomorrow night when they host Dartmouth at 6 p.m.
