Jan. 4, 2010
Marc Trasolini scored 20+ points for the fourth time this season, but it wasn't enough as Santa Clara fell to Harvard 74-66 in front of a sell-out crowd at the Leavey Center. Jeremy Lin finished the game with six points and nine assists for the Crimson. Santa Clara is now 8-9 and Harvard moves to 11-3.
The crowd of 4,700 people was the biggest crowd for a non-conference game in the history of the Leavey Center. The largest attendance for a conference game (4,700) was last season when the Broncos hosted Gonzaga on Feb. 26, 2009.
Trasolini scored in double figures for the 14th time this season, finishing with 22. Robert Smith finished with 14 points, the 11th time in 12 games he has finished in double figures. Ray Cowels finished with 11 points.
Kyle Casey led Harvard with 27 points. Christian Webster finished with 15 points. Dee Giger finished with 14 points.
Santa Clara shot 48.8 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Santa Clara collected 26 rebounds, five steals and four blocks with 18 turnovers. Harvard shot 51.2 percent from the field, including 46.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Crimson collected 29 rebounds, 10 steals and four blocks with 20 turnovers.
Early on the game was tied up three times. Cowels nailed a three at 16:26 to put the Broncos up 7-6. Harvard took a 13-11 lead over Santa Clara after Casey made two free throws at 14:39. A bucket by Cowels and two free throws by Troy Payne cut the Crimson's lead to 17-15 at 11:24.
Santa Clara did not make a field goal from 11:24-7:53 when Trasolini hit a basket for the Broncos. Harvard went on a similar dry spell, as it did not make a field goal from 13:26 to 8:21, after Giger made a bucket.
Harvard went on a 6-2 run after two nice assists by Lin and a jump shot by Casey. Trasolini hit two free throws for the Broncos to cut the Crimson's lead to 25-22 at 4:17. Lin hit two free throws for Harvard to push the score to 27-22 at 3:55. Trasolini hit consecutive baskets for the Broncos; his second came at 1:47 to cut the score to 29-26. Casey hit a three for the Crimson to put Harvard up 32-26, which was the score at the half.
Harvard opened up the second half with a quick basket by Keith Wright at 19:38 after another assist by Lin. Ben Dowdell stripped Lin and converted a fast break dunk at 17:11 to cut Harvard's lead to 36-30. Two free throws by Smith cut the Crimson's lead to 36-32 at 16:49. Cowels nailed a three at 13:53 to cut Harvard's lead to 40-37. Andrew Van Nest knocked down a three at 13:27 to push the lead back to six for the Crimson.
Harvard opened up an 11-point lead after Giger hitting threes on consecutive possessions at 9:51 and 9:10 to push the score to 53-42 for the Crimson. Christian hit a three in the corner for Harvard and Giger's layup at 7:19 put the Crimson up 58-45. Casey's three at 5:52 extended Harvard's lead to 61-46. Smith hit two free throws for the Broncos to snap a 12-1 run by the Crimson from 8:22-4:54.
Smith knocked down a three at 4:16 but Harvard still held on to a 14-point lead, 65-41. Trasolini converted a three-point play at 2:50 to cut Harvard's lead to 67-56.
