By wpengine February 28, 2003
The men’s basketball team will appear at Newman Arena for the final time this season when it hosts Harvard tonight and Dartmouth tomorrow on Senior Night. The saying “familiarity breeds contempt” will be put to the test this weekend, as the Red (8-15, 3-7 Ivy) will be facing these two Ivy foes for the second time in three weeks. Last weekend, the Red dropped a pair against Yale and Brown despite receiving a 30-point effort from junior tri-captain Ka’Ron Barnes against Brown. Barnes has been on a roll over the Red’s past five games, averaging 20.6 points. He was named to the Ivy League honor roll this past week after his big offensive showing. He scored 19 of his 30 points in the second half, while Brown’s Earl Hunt — the league’s leading scorer — put up 20 in the game. The previous night, Yale manhandled the Red, 70-52, behind a dominant first half on the offensive end. “I liked how we came out Saturday after playing a bad basketball game on Friday night in my opinion,” said head coach Steve Donahue. “Yale gets a lot of credit for that. They came after us, and we did not compete well enough, particularly early.” Barnes’ offensive outburst came a week after he totaled his previous career high of 25 in the Red’s 82-69 win over Harvard. In addition to Barnes, sophomores Eric Taylor and Cody Toppert scored 15 and 12 points, respectively. The win represented a coming-out party for freshmen David Lisle and Lenny Collins, who combined for 17 points, while Collins posted a career-high six assists and four steals on the game. “We bounced back from a bad effort,” Donahue commented on that game. “They played hard, and I think we matched that intensity. We had a great poise about us the whole game. We went about our offense correct, we stepped up, we made the right decisions, and then we guarded very well.” The Crimson (11-12, 3-7) enters the game after losing games last weekend to Ancient Eight powers Penn and Princeton. Guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman recorded a double-double against Penn, racking up 13 points and 10 rebounds. Prasse-Freeman leads the league with 7.7 assists per game, which ranks fourth in the nation. He is the Ivy League’s all-time leader with 676. In addition, Brady Merchant dropped 22 points on Princeton Saturday night, as Harvard nearly came back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game late. Still, despite the win last time out, the Red is aware that the Crimson will again be a serious threat. “I think the guys just respect Harvard so much and they understand that they have to play very well to beat any team in our league at this point,” said Donahue. “I would use it as an advantage, coming home after four road games.” Tomorrow night the Red will host Dartmouth (6-17, 2-8) in an attempt to atone for its 65-56 loss Feb. 14 in Hanover. Despite a career-high 13 points by Lisle and 14 rebounds by Collins, the Green took advantage of hot outside shooting to sink the Red. Forward Mike McLaren shot 6-10 from beyond the arc to contribute to his game-high 22 points in the win. “I think Dartmouth came out and brought a lot more energy to the court than we did,” said Toppert. “We were just really stagnant and we let that affect the way we played. I think that’s one key is that we need to make sure that we pick up the defensive intensity.” Two weeks ago, Cornell outrebounded the Green 40-30, a task that might be difficult to repeat this week with the absence of sophomore center Chris Vandenberg. Vandenberg sat out both games last weekend after hinthntinued to experience pain in his troublesome left knee. He is not expected to play this weekend or next weekend. “He gives Eric minutes off and keeps him fresh, which in turn keeps Gabe Stephenson fresh,” said Donahue. “You could play Gabe at the four a little bit, he’s a little bigger, and Lenny can play the three, it has a domino effect. So that was part of the comfort level. We got outrebounded again for the first time. I think that all plays into it.” However, the key will continue to be the Red’s ability to pick its spots and play the fundamental parts of the game well. “We followed our game plan like we needed to [against Brown], we shot like we needed to, we were patient,” said Toppert. “Just the little intangible things that really don’t show up in the box score are the things we need to work on.”Archived article by Owen Bochner
By wpengine February 28, 2003
The lady cagers (9-14, 3-7 Ivy) will look to extend their Ivy win streak to three as they travel to Boston tonight to take on the first-place Harvard Crimson. The team’s road trip continues with another stop at Dartmouth tomorrow night. Cornell will look to play spoiler again this weekend by ending the Crimson’s perfect season. Last weekend the women set-back Brown’s title hopes, downing it 78-59. Harvard (18-4, 10-0) enters the weekend after narrowly edging Penn and Princeton last weekend. The wins extended Harvard’s total to 22 straight Ivy wins, the second longest streak in league history. The Crimson will look to continue its control of the tight series against the Red. When the teams last met, Feb. 15 at Newman Arena, Harvard emerged with a 77-71 victory after the Red fought back from a 17-point halftime deficit. Junior Karen Force led all scorers in the game, putting up 27 points hitting 9 of 18 from the field. Harvard forward Hana Peljto led the Crimson with 25 points and six rebounds. Peljto has been hot handed as of late, recording her 10th double-double of the season at Princeton last weekend. The junior has been named Ivy League Player of the Week three times this season, with the most recent award on Feb. 17, right after Harvard traveled to East Hill. She is also the 11th leading scorer in the nation. Cornell saw heartbreak on Valentine’s Day, losing to Dartmouth 63-58. In a losing effort, Force led in assists while senior forward Lynell Davis recorded a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. It was Davis’s fifth double-double of the year. Dartmouth Dartmouth (12-11, 6-4) has seen spoilers before, and will be on guard for the Red this weekend. The Green had its six-game winning streak snapped by Penn last weekend, going down in a 58-53 barn-burner. After trailing 30-24 at the half, the Green opened the second half with a 6-0 run to cut the Quaker lead to two, just four minutes in. The Green held a four-point lead at 41:37, with 10 minutes left before Penn went on a 13-2 run and never looked back. Katherine Hanks scored 14 points in the losing cause. Cornell is currently riding a two-game Ivy winning streak, and with strong performances over the season’s final four games, can finish in the top half of the Ivy League. The Red currently sits tied for sixth with travel partner Columbia. The Red returns home next weekend to wrap up its season against Princeton and Penn.Archived article by Matt Janiga