Crimson Athletics has again proven that Harvard isn’t just for nerds.  Earlier this evening, the Harvard Men’s Basketball team achieved a surprise first-place finish in the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.

The eight-team tournament took place from Thursday to Saturday at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.  Participating in the competition were squads from around the country, including UNC Asheville, the College of Charleston and UMass Amherst.  The heavy favorites to take the trophy were the defending NCAA champions and fourth-ranked UConn Huskies.

Harvard crushed Utah in its first game in the tournament on Thanksgiving Day, 75-47.  During that match-up, senior and Preseason Ivy League Player of the Year Keith Wright scored 13 points, a feat that was doubled by freshman Corbin Miller in a career-high effort for the Crimson newbie. Friday night, Harvard beat number 22-ranked Florida State University in a closely battled 46-41 victory, with senior Oliver McNally leading the team with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

This evening, Harvard sealed the deal with a solid 59-49 victory over the UCF Knights, who had taken out UConn to make it to the championship game. The win brings the Crimson to a 6-0 record this season, with earlier victories over MIT, Holy Cross and Loyola Marymount.

The men’s basketball team has been on an upward trajectory since last school year. In 2010-2011, Wright and McNally, along with current juniors Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry, led Harvard to tie Princeton for its first-ever Ivy League Championship.

We look forward to following you this season, boys. Go Crimson!

Casey led the Crimson to their first Ivy League championship in team history. Picture from gocrimson.com.

With its victory over Princeton tonight, 79-67, Harvard clinched at least a share of the Ivy League.  Harvard finishes their season at 23-5 and a 12-2 Ivy League record.  They remained undefeated at home, going 14-0 in Lavietes Pavilion.  Princeton now has an Ivy League record of 11-2, with one game remaining at Penn on Tuesday.  If Penn wins, Harvard will win the Ivy League outright and secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament, March Madness.  If Princeton pulls off the road win, the Crimson and the Tigers will be named Ivy League co-champions and would play a game (believed to be next Friday at Yale) for the spot in March Madness.

Kyle Casey led the team tonight with 24 points including one nasty dunk with about 16 minutes to play to put Harvard up 47-42.  The rowdy student section chanted his name when he fouled out, minutes before they stormed the court in celebration.

Update: If necessary, the Princeton-Harvard playoff game will be Saturday, March 12 at 4 p.m. at Yale.  That game would be broadcast on ESPN3.  Likewise, the upcoming Princeton-Penn game which will determine if a playoff game is necessary will be available on ESPN3.  If Princeton wins, the Ivy League will announce ticket information for the playoff game on Wednesday morning.  Presumably, once the Ivy League allots tickets to Harvard and Princeton, Harvard Athletics will provide information regarding student tickets.

Wright goes up over two Big Green Defenders for the score

While you were at home catching up on sleep and watching TV, the basketball team was back at school, kicking off Ivy League basketball by defeating Dartmouth in a blowout, 76-47. The team’s star, Jeremy Lin, finished the game with 11 points and six steals, one of which resulted in a highlight-worthy breakaway dunk.  The true star of this game, however, was Keith Wright, who finished with 22 points, three blocks, and six rebounds.  Freshman Kyle Casey was impressive, off the bench, with four blocks and an alley-oop on a pass from guard Oliver McNally. Read the rest of this entry »