ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Sophomore guard
Evan Nelson scored a career-high 23 points, leading five Crimson in double figures, as Harvard University men's basketball beat Elon University, 92-77, on Sunday afternoon at Harrah's Cherokee Center in the third-place game of the Asheville Championship.
The Crimson (2-1) took a 47-36 lead at halftime and built a lead as large as 25 points in the second half, using a 16-2 burst to pull away from the Phoenix (1-2). Alongside Nelson, senior guard
Luka Sakota (14 points), junior guard
Sam Silverstein (13 points), and senior guard
Idan Tretout (12 points) all scored in double figures while senior forward
Chris Ledlum tallied a double-double on 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Harvard Highlights
- Sophomore guard Evan Nelson scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 field goals, 4-of-6 3-pointers, and 3-of-3 free throws, while adding a career-best six assists and three steals. He went over 20 points for the first time in his career and scored in double figures for the fourth time in his career.
- Senior guard Luka Sakota netted 14 points on 4-of-6 field goals, 2-of-3 triples, and 4-of-5 free throws alongside three assists. He has scored in double figures in all three games this season.
- Junior guard Sam Silverstein tallied 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals. He connected on 3-of-5 field goals and 6-of-6 free throws. Silverstein has scored in double figures in all three games this year.
- Silverstein earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team after averaging 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 66.7 percent from the field, 60.0 percent from 3-point distance, and 1.000 percent from the foul line over the two games.
- Senior guard Idan Tretout finished with 12 points on 4-of-5 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws, while adding four rebounds. He scored in double figures for the first time on the year and for the ninth time in his career.
- Senior forward Chris Ledlum posted his first double-double of the year on 10 points and 10 rebounds alongside two blocks. He notched his ninth career double-double, scored in double figures for the 25th time in his career, and has scored in double digits in all three games of 2022-23.
- Sophomore guard Louis Lesmond netted nine points on a trio of 3-pointers and came up with a game-high three blocks.
- First-year forward Chisom Okpara added five points on 1-of-1 shooting and 3-of-3 free throws and six rebounds.
- For the game, the Crimson shot 50.9 percent from the field (28-of-55) and 40.0 percent from 3-point distance (10-of-25).
- Harvard led 42-25 in rebounds, while getting to the free throw line 35 times, connecting on 26-of-35 attempts (74.3 percent).
Gallery: (11-13-2022) Men's Basketball vs. Elon at Asheville
How It Happened
- Trailing 13-9 early in the game despite two 3-pointers from Nelson, the Crimson outscored the Phoenix 23-7 to take a 32-20 lead with 8:04 left in the first half. The streak included a pair of 3-pointers from Sakota, a fastbreak dunk from Ledlum, and another 3-pointer from Nelson to cap the run.
- Harvard took its largest lead of the first half at 44-30 with 2:58 to go in the frame with eight points from Silverstein and another dunk from Ledlum highlighting the stretch.
- The Crimson brought a 47-36 lead into the halftime break.
- With the Crimson remaining ahead at 58-47 with 15:46 to go in the second half, Harvard used a 16-2 burst to move ahead 74-49 with 11:58 remaining. During the run, Lesmond connected on all three of his 3-pointers and Okpara converted an old-fashioned 3-point play.
- Harvard maintained at least a 15-point lead for the remainder of the contest.
Postgame Quotes
- "I'm really pleased with the effort that we brought this afternoon and thought we really needed to show some growth. I thought these guys responded incredibly well to get us off to a good start, which was one of the keys for us. I'm really proud of these guys for leading the way for helping us get off to a really good start in both halves." – Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball
- "We talked a lot coming into it as this being a culture game. Coach, like he said, he tweaked something in the lineup. He gave me and Sam the start because he believed in us, and it was just a matter of going out there and having fun. I think Louisiana put it on us the game before, and we didn't have our best showing as a team. So really the emphasis was just to come out here and make that loss right." – Sophomore guard Evan Nelson
- "That was really an emphasis coming in. Coach challenged us to box out and control the glass, and we know that it goes a long way to helping the final result come in our favor. So that was a real big focus." – Junior guard Sam Silverstein
Next Up
After completing its weekend at the Asheville Championship, Harvard plays at Northeastern on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m. (NESN/FloHoops) before hosting its home opener against Siena on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
Tickets to the Crimson's home opener against Siena are available at
tickets.gocrimson.com.
