Men's Basketball Falls Just Short at Harvard, 61-60

Friday, February 21

Cambridge, Mass.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

11-11 (6-3Ivy)

Harvard

17-7 (6-3Ivy)

Princeton

Harvard

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Men's Basketball Falls Just Short at Harvard, 61-60

February 21, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In a game that went down to the final play, the Princeton University men's basketball team came up just short against Harvard University 61-60 Friday night inside Lavietes Pavilion.

Sophomore Jaelin Llewellyn led Princeton with a game-high 22 points while also pulling down seven rebounds. Senior Richmond Aririguzoh and sophomore Drew Friberg each added 11 points while Aririguzoh also pulled down six rebounds and had three steals. Friberg finished with five rebounds and three steals of his own.

While Llewellyn scored the game's opening basket on a lefty jump-hook with 19:26 on the clock, the game began as a back-and-forth battle. With 16:59 remaining in the half, Friberg executed a beautiful backdoor cut then laid it in to give Princeton a 6-5 advantage.

Llewellyn continued to give Harvard problems in the first half, draining a three-pointer with 12:01 on the clock that knotted the score at 14-14.

Harvard would take a 17-16 lead, but back-to-back three pointers by Friberg gave Princeton a 22-17 advantage with 8:16 left in the half. Ethan would then finish through heavy contact for the three-point play and knock down the free-throw with 4:20 left to play, extending the Tigers' lead to 28-21.

Aririguzoh pulled down an offensive rebound then laid the ball in with 0:54 on the clock and Princeton took a 34-30 advantage into halftime.

In the second half Llewellyn picked up where he left off in the first, draining a three-pointer with 17:57 left to play that gave Princeton a 39-32 lead. Freshman Ryan Langborg followed with a three-pointer with 15:55 on the clock, giving the Tigers a 43-38 advantage.

With 13:44 remaining, junior Jerome Desrosiers drove baseline and threw down a thunderous two-handed dunk to give Princeton a 45-41 lead.

13:44 2nd | Princeton 45, Harvard 41@desrobball drives baseline then gets upstairs and throws it down!#MakeShots ???? pic.twitter.com/qqLdQFJdOY
— Princeton Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) February 22, 2020

The Crimson managed to make it a 46-44 game with 10:41 on the clock, but a pair of Aririguzoh free throws and a layup by freshman Tosan Evbuomwan helped the Tigers keep the advantage at 50-45.

Harvard would take a 51-50 lead with 7:19 left to play and the Tigers were determined to battle back. A driving layup by Aririguzoh with 5:20 remaining made it a 57-54 contest then a deep three-pointer by Friberg knotted the score at 57-57 with 4:50 on the clock.

The Tigers managed to get it within one and called timeout with 0:03 on the clock; Princeton was unlucky not to score on the final play out of the timeout and the Crimson held on for the 61-60 victory.

Up Next
The Tigers will take on Dartmouth College (10-14, 3-6) tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in Hanover, New Hampshire.