the lions five did exactly what it had to on friday night, downing dartmouth 70 – 66. in the process they avenged a stinging ivy league defeat while playing some of their toughest perimeter defense. big green junior guard brendan barry, who had torched them in hanover for twenty one, managed fourteen points but was shut out from beyond the arc. tellingly, barry had scored 15 of his 21 at hanover in the first half as dartmouth built a fourteen point lead on their way to an 82 – 66 laugher – the second worst drubbing columbia took this season in the ivies. this go round, quinton adlesh held barry to a measly two in the first half. the rest of the big green bombers were similarly locked down, going a collective 0 -13 from three point territory. in so far as dartmouth stayed in the game it was on the broad shoulders of chris knight (18 points and 6 rebounds) and aaryn rai (13 points, and an impressive 14 boards). indeed dartmouth’s work down low was exceptional. they out rebounded the lions 39 – 26 and, consequently, put up 12 more shots. the lions were far more efficient with the nylon pumpkin when they had it, however. they shot 56% from the field overall and 44% from beyond the arc. they were led in that display by first year maka ellis who went 3 – 4 from deep. had columbia managed to make more of its free throws, the final score would have better reflected the difference between the two squads and the ho hum atmosphere the game generated. columbia had efficiently crafted a ten point halftime lead. though the hanoverians managed to claw that back and even take a 52 – 49 lead with eight minutes left in the game as barry finally heated up, the outcome never felt in doubt as pat tape’s 19 points, on a heady 9 – 11 shots, 7 rebounds and 2 assists led columbia home. the third straight lion victory and fourth in five tries would not, however, keep the squad’s league tourney hopes alive as every other team fighting for a fourth place berth would also triumph and those results eliminated our heroes from contention.
consequential or not, the saturday night battle against the john harvards was so ferociously entertaining, so hotly close run a fight, that it left us sorely dismayed at the thought that similar entertainment must wait till november next. back on February 15 these two crews locked up in a triple overtime classic that ended with the cantabs on top. it took 44 points from harvard guard bryce aiken, including one of the more improbable double clutch let it fly and pray threes of the season, to get his team across the finish line, 98 – 96. bracketing aiken’s shot was a baseline to top of the key race and shoot triple by gabe steffanini that forced the first overtime and a clock beating corner trey by jake killingworth to force the third extra period. the second largest, and much the loudest, crowd of the season at levien would only be treated to a single overtime, but could anyone feel shortchanged as the outcome was in doubt till quinton adlesh’s open look trey clanged off the back rim as the red light flashed on the north end backboard?
as this will be allgame’s last chance to recount the action for eight months, we’ll take the time to revisit some of the late back and forth. at the 1:52 mark of the second half, columbia seemed to have the night in hand when gabe steffanini hit a jumper for a 67 – 63 lead. the incandescent aiken was having none of it, however, and just ten seconds later hit a jumper in traffic to make it 67 – 65. on the next possession, patrick tape (who led the lions with 18 points), mishandled a pass and traveled. the rising north carolinian quickly atoned for the tort by smothering an open danilo djuricic under the crimson’s bucket. the lions grabbed djuricic’s misfired lay up and with 33 seconds remaining got the ball to quinton adlesh who all too quickly threw up an airball. harvard made the lions pay for additional sloppiness at the 18 second mark when an unboxed out noah kirkwood flashed from the weak side corner to snag a rebound and toss up a put back attempt. fouled, kirkwood, proceeded to drain his two free throws, tying the game at 67. the lions had another shot at sealing the win when adlesh went up for a contested, but makeable, trey that only caught the front rim.
whatever the exact events in overtime that led to the ultimate result, the harvard win turned on two major factors. the first, of course, was bryce aiken’s irrepressible offensive display. for the first ten minutes of the contest, quinton adlesh did an admirable job limiting the cantab guard’s efforts. from then on, aiken (on his way to 36 points and 5 assists) either scored from the field, got fouled and scored from the charity stripe, or delivered the ball to the teammate most likely to score. and it’s not like coach engles just left adlesh out to dry. one illustration – with columbia up 71 – 69 early in the extra period, aiken got the ball at the top of the key and started working to his left. cut off by adlesh, he spun back to his right where he was quickly picked up by the very active pat tape. spinning away to his left again, aiken spotted danilo djuricic in the corner. the lanky harvard forward eschewed the open trey for a quick baseline drive and emphatic dunk. aiken’s quickness and court vision finally undid the light blue. on the flip side, tommy amaker did a terrific job apportioning the defensive work against messr tape who had to labor like the devil for his 18 points. chris lewis got the bulk of that assignment and muscled the leaner tape whenever he had the opportunity. the lion center’s work was complicated by the additional efforts of 6′ 8″ mason forbes and similarly long danilo djuricic. they both gave up inches to patrick but they worked gamely and from slightly different angles to deny him the ball. the trio of defenders, at the very least, were able to keep fresh legs working all game. this never told more hurtfully than at the 1:27 mark of ot when tape, received an entry pass for an absolute bunny of a lay in. unsure of exactly whom would be pressuring the shot and how, Patrick altered his motion just enough to brick the gimme. the harvard defenders also did a terrific job up on top and took full advantage of two lazy lion passes. first chris lewis picked one off and beat tape down the court, forcing a foul and two freebies. shortly thereafter, djuricic, who was involved so many big moments late, overplayed a lax steffanini toss and wound up going three quarter of the court before throwing down the jam for a soul crushing 79 -76 cantab lead.
columbia’s stubborn fight down the last ninety seconds, capped by a steffanini trey, a forced turnover on the ensuing inbounds play and finally adlesh’s last gasp deep but open three pointer yielded merely a gallant 83 – 81 loss, their ninth in league play. and 5 – 9 was good enough for only next to last in the standings. anyone watching this team since mid-february, though, can attest to their rapid improvement and the fact that they were playing as well as anyone in the ivies when time finally ran out. c.j. davis, Pete barba and the tough as nails quinton adlesh have run their last at levien, but every one else and, we trust, a healthy mike smith return. pull out your sunglasses, fans! the future looks shiny.
d up and peace out,
paulie b
p.s. we expect yale to beat harvard in the ivy league tournament this sunday. cannot see penn upsetting harvard or yale falling to a princeton team it has whipped twice convincingly. yale is marginally the healthiest squad in the league at this point and coach jones will pull out every trick in his thick book to avoid being snookered a third time this season by his nemesis – the causally dapper mr. amaker. look to see the bulldogs dancing, albeit briefly, in the ncaas.