CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Men's and Women's Basketball held its annual Crimson Madness preseason event on Friday, Oct. 18 at Lavietes Pavilion with 3-pointers, dunks, and contest winners highlighting the evening as all student-athletes and fans enjoyed the return of basketball.
Throughout the evening, fans enjoyed their first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the 2024-25 edition of Harvard Basketball. The event began with a pre-party on the Lavietes Lawn and Dillon Quad featuring music, lawn games, raffles, and the Roxy's Grilled Cheese Food Truck before team introductions. From there, the night included team scrimmages, performances from cheer, dance, and band, player and fan contests, and a post-event autograph session.
Gallery: (10-18-2024) 2024-25 Crimson Madness
Team Scrimmages
Following introductions, the two teams opened the evening with a pair of 15-minute scrimmages.
On the women's side,
Gabby Anderson scored a scrimmage-high seven points while
Elena Rodriguez netted six points on 3-of-4 shooting with two rebounds and two assists.
Karlee White grabbed a scrimmage-best six rebounds alongside five points on 2-of-4 shooting.
In the men's event,
Thomas Batties II scored a scrimmage-high 10 points on 5-of-5 field goals,
Austin Hunt netted seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.
Evan Nelson added six points, and
Robert Hinton corralled a scrimmage-best four rebounds. Harvard's Crimson Team connected on 61.9 percent of its field goals (13-of-21).
Skills Challenge Contests
Opening the contest portion of the night with the relay race, the team of
Elena Rodriguez,
Louis Lesmond, and their two fan teammates won the challenge as each contestant made a layup/dunk, free throw, and 3-pointer.
In the 3-point contest, the team of
Evan Nelson,
Alayna Rocco, and their two fan counterparts took the title as the quartet made 14 total 3-pointers in a 30-second period.
Next Up
Both men's and women's basketball tip off the season on Monday, Nov. 4 in a doubleheader at Lavietes Pavilion with the men hosting Marist at 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+) and the women hosting Massachusetts at 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
