CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Sophomore forward
Chisom Okpara scored a game and season-high 20 points, and first-year guard
Malik Mack netted 18 points, but Harvard University men's basketball fell at Boston College, 73-64, on Saturday evening at Conte Forum.
Closing out a three-game week of contests against in-state teams, including a back-to-back weekend, the Crimson (4-1) held a 35-33 lead at halftime and grew the margin to 43-33 in the second half before the host Eagles (4-0) came back with a second-half rally in the first meeting between the two teams since the 2016-17 season.
Okpara scored his 20 points on 8-of-17 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws, while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Mack – who entered the game as the nation's leading scorer among first-year players – netted 18 points with a game-high six assists and five rebounds. Senior forward
Justice Ajogbor (eight points, nine boards, four blocks), sophomore guard
Chandler Piggé (seven points, eight boards), and junior guard
Louis Lesmond (eight points) contributed for the Crimson.
Harvard Highlights
- Sophomore forward Chisom Okpara tallied a season-high 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. He connected on 8-of-17 field goals, 2-of-5 3-pointers, and 2-of-2 free throws. Okpara scored in double figures for the third time this season and 12th time in his career and reached the 20-point plateau for the second time in his career.
- First-year guard Malik Mack netted 18 points with a game-high six assists and five rebounds, while making 5-of-11 field goals, 2-of-4 treys, and 6-of-7 free throws. He has scored in double figures in all five games this season and finished with 18 or more points for the fourth straight game.
- Senior forward Justice Ajogbor posted eight points, a team-high nine rebounds, and a career-high four blocks. He led the Crimson in rebounding for the third time this year.
- Sophomore guard Chandler Piggé compiled seven points, eight rebounds, three steals, and a career-high three blocks while junior guard Louis Lesmond scored eight points and made two 3-pointers.
- The Crimson connected on 6-of-13 3-pointers in the first half (46.2 percent).
Gallery: (11-18-2023) Men's Basketball at Boston College
How It Happened
- After BC opened the game with an 18-10 lead at the 11:39 mark of the first half, the Crimson responded with a 13-0 run, taking a 23-18 advantage with 9:02 to go in the stanza. During the run, Okpara connected on a pair of 3-pointers, Ajogbor threw down a dunk, and Piggé knocked down a trey.
- The Crimson closed the first half on an 8-2 spurt to take a 35-33 edge into the locker room. A 3-pointer from Lesmond with under a minute to play sent the Eagles into the break with the lead.
- Harvard proceeded to score the first eight points of the second half to gain a 43-33 margin with 17:20 remaining behind a jumper from Piggé, dunk from Ajogbor, and four points from Mack.
- After BC countered with a 13-0 run to take a 46-43 lead with 14:51 left, neither team held a lead larger than four points until the final 3:04.
- Okpara scored nine straight points for the Crimson from the 13:32 to 9:45 marks to keep the score tied at 54-54.
- Harvard remained with 62-61 with 4:16 to go following a jumper from Lesmond before the Eagles closed the game on an 11-3 run.
Postgame Quotes
"I thought it was a physical game. I thought our guys played really hard. Both teams competed. It was a close game – much closer than even the final margin of victory for them. I was really pleased with the effort that our guys gave, but we were not tough enough on the backboard again." –
Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball
"Back-to-backs are hard. Our league has been known for it, so this is a simulation of that. Hopefully this will be something that gets us ready when we actually have a back-to-back in our league." –
Tommy Amaker
"I think we have had a tremendous month of November thus far. We had a tough loss this afternoon, but overall when you think of the road games we have played and how we have played there are a lot of positives that we have seen with our team. There is a lot to be positive about though maybe not at this second." –
Tommy Amaker
Next Up
Harvard plays at Colgate on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+) before playing at Indiana on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 4:30 p.m. (BTN) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
