No. 23/24 Harvard 67, Boston College 46: Crimson Trek Across Town, Roll Past Eagles at Conte Forum

Sophomore Laurent Rivard and the Harvard Crimson have taken down all four of their Massachusetts opponents this season.

by Joshua Kummins

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. ? In front of a sold-out crowd of 8,606 fans at Conte Forum, the No. 23/24 Harvard Crimson struggled out of the gate and recovered late in order to take a 67-46 victory over the Boston College Eagles on Thursday evening.

?Obviously, it?s a terrific win for us and our program,? said Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker, who is in his fifth season at the helm in Cambridge. ?This time of year, it is always challenging no matter where and who you play coming off the break.?

Despite a week-long break, the cross-town visitors were able to capture their fourth victory in a row against the Eagles and have not fell since the 2005-06 season in the all-time series. The triumph was also Harvard?s 14th in a row against an in-state foe ? a streak that dates back to a 76-71 overtime decision against Northeastern.

?It?s definitely something we take pride in,? said Crimson junior guard Brandyn Curry, who scored 11 points in the contest. ?It?s just another game. We just come out, handled business and just played our game.?

The Crimson won the opening tip, but Eagles guard Matt Humphrey took the ball down the floor and opened the scoring with a jump shot in the paint with 51 seconds gone by in the contest.

After Oliver McNally?s two free throws tied the game just under 1:30 into the proceedings, the Eagles went to work and began building its largest lead of 11 points in a little over four minutes as an inside jumper by freshman Dennis Clifford capped off the 10-1 run for Boston College.

?It?s a credit to their team,? Amaker added. ?They came at us and put us in a hole?[However,] I thought our defense was outstanding and we had to be. They are a terrific three-point shooting team. I was very pleased with the effort we gave defensively.?

After that, the Crimson mounted their own upward trek which was capped by a 12-point lead with 1:16 to play in the half thanks to a three-point bucket from Harvard junior Christian Webster.

After a very slow start from the field, Harvard caught up and finished the half at 43.3 percent overall. The Eagles had a more consistent first half at 14-of-22 from the field, including a 3-of-4 mark from beyond the three-point arc.

The Crimson rolled in the second half, pulling away to the easy victory in the end, despite going just 9-for-23 from the field. The offense hit for just 40.9 percent on the whole in the game, but held the Eagles weak offense to just 13 points and 4-for-22 in the final 20 minutes of play.

BC?s previous season low for second half points was 20 during an 82-46 beatdown by Massachusetts on Nov. 21.

Harvard?s largest lead of the game of 23 points was eclipsed with just 1:56 to play in the contest as rookie Corbin Miller hit one of his four threes.

Harvard was led by the play of guard Laurent Rivard, who came off the bench and stormed to an impressive performance. The Saint-Bruno, Que. native went off for 18 points, including 15 in the first half on 7-for-12 shooting and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

?We refer to our team like we have six starters,? Amaker noted. ?Even though he?s played as well as anyone?and he is as good as anyone on our team. His ability to stretch the defense and be a physical player, not just his shooting ability.?

?I make him upset because I think every time he shoots it and I get bad at him whenever he misses anything, which is not fair or right, but that is how much confidence I have.?

Rivard, as just a sophomore, already ranks third in program history with a .407 shooting percentage from behind the three-point arc, including a career-high six triples on Dec. 10 at Boston University.

Freshman center Dennis Clifford, a Bridgewater, Mass. native, scored a team-high 14 points for the Eagles on 5-of-6 shooting. Fellow rookie Patrick Heckmann scored 13.

The Eagles fall to 5-8 on the season with the defeat, snapping a three-game winning streak. They return to Conte Forum to close a five-game homestand on Monday afternoon against Rhode Island.

Harvard has won three games in a row since dropping its only game of the season on No. 9 Connecticut on Dec. 8 and will return to Cambridge on Saturday to host St. Joseph?s.

Joshua Kummins, a junior honor roll student at Malden High School, is the Associate Editor for BostonSportsU18.com. He joined BSU18 in August 2010 and also serves as the Co-Head of Sports for the award-winning newspaper at MHS, The Blue and Gold. This fall, he enters his second year as the site's Hockey East beat reporter. He covered upwards of 35 games during the 2010-11 season, including the Beanpot and Hockey East Tournament at TD Garden and is also very excited to cover this year's Frozen Fenway events. He is also a frequent contributor to the site?s baseball coverage as he covers the Red Sox, minor leagues, and college games throughout the season. Each season, he is proud to cover the Cape Cod Baseball League and the New England Collegiate Baseball League?s North Shore Navigators. He also thinks that the CCBL and NECBL provide some of the best baseball in the country, truly showing ?how the game should be played.? Contact him via e-mail with any questions at jkummins@bostonsportsu18.com.

Source: http://bostonsportsu18.com/?p=12400

the cabin in the woods the cabin in the woods trace adkins the darkest hour the darkest hour neverland shaun white