CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior guard
Chandler Piggé posted a double-double on a team-high 15 points and game and career-high 12 rebounds, but Harvard Men's Basketball dropped a narrow 68-64 decision to Princeton University on Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion in both teams' Ivy League opener.
Facing a 64-53 deficit with 2:35 remaining, the Crimson (5-9, 0-1 Ivy) used an 11-2 run to pull within 66-64 with 13 seconds left before the visiting Tigers (12-4, 1-0 Ivy) held on for the decision.
Piggé led four Crimson in double figures with his first double-double of the season and second double-double of his career, making 6-of-13 field goals and 3-of-6 3-pointers on his way to 15 points, 12 rebounds, and a game-high three steals. First-year guard
Robert Hinton (14 points, six rebounds), sophomore forward
Thomas Batties II (13 points, four boards), and senior guard
Louis Lesmond (12 points, 3-of-5 3-pointers) joined Piggé in double digits as the Crimson placed four scorers in double figures for the eighth time in the last 10 games.
Harvard Highlights
- Junior guard Chandler Piggé – the Ivy League's leading rebounder – posted a double-double on a team-high 15 points and game and career-high 12 rebounds. He notched his first double-double of the season and second of his career, while making 6-of-13 field goals and 3-of-6 3-pointers and adding a game-high three steals. He led the Crimson in scoring for the sixth time this season and paced Harvard in rebounds for the 10th time on the year. Piggé scored in double figures for the 11th time in 14 games this season.
- First-year guard Robert Hinton tallied 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while making 6-of-8 free throws. Hinton finished in double figures for the ninth time on the year. He scored seven points in the final 34 seconds as part of Harvard's late rally to pull within one possession.
- Sophomore forward Thomas Batties II scored 13 points with four rebounds, connecting on 4-of-7 field goals, 1-of-2 3-pointers, and 4-of-4 free throws. He finished in double figures for the seventh time this season and for the fourth straight game.
- Senior guard Louis Lesmond netted 12 points with two assists, while converting 3-of-5 3-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws. Lesmond tallied 10 of his 12 points in the second half, hitting 3-of-3 treys. He scored in double digits for the fourth time this year and 26th time in his career.
- Senior guard Evan Nelson added six points, five rebounds, and a team-high three assists. He made 2-of-5 3-pointers in the contest.
- For the game, Harvard shot 40.9 percent from 3-point distance, marking the third straight game the Crimson has shot 36.8 percent or better from behind the arc.
- The Crimson made 13-of-16 free throws (81.3 percent) and has now shot 75.0 percent or better at the line in six of its last seven games.
- Harvard tallied four double-figure scorers for the eighth time in its last 10 games.
Gallery: (1-11-2025) Men's Basketball vs. Princeton
How It Happened
- Batties II and PIggé each hit 3-pointers inside of the first eight minutes as Harvard remained within 13-12 of Princeton at the 12:11 mark of the first half.
- Facing a 17-14 deficit, the Crimson scored six straight points to pull ahead 20-17 with 6:06 left in the opening half. A 3-pointer from Piggé kept Harvard up 23-19, and the Crimson remained ahead 27-23 before Princeton scored five straight points to move ahead 28-27 with 2:47 left in the half.
- A 3-pointer from Nelson knotted the score at 32-32 with 1:06 to go until halftime before the Tigers took a 37-33 lead into the locker room.
- The Crimson remained within 40-38 just under three minutes into the second half prior to an 8-2 run from the visitors that gave Princeton a 48-40 edge with 12:56 to play. The Tigers extended the lead to 52-43 with 11:00 to go before a dunk from Batties II.
- Princeton maintained a 58-47 lead before back-to-back 3-pointers from Piggé and Lesmond in a 20-second span cut the margin to 58-53 with 7:14 remaining.
- After the Tigers moved the margin back to 11 points at 64-53 with 2:35 left, the Crimson used an 11-2 run to pull within 66-64 with 13 seconds left. A 3-pointer from Lesmond started the streak before Hinton scored the final seven points of the run, including an old-fashioned 3-point play with 24 seconds left. Princeton hit two free throws with 10 seconds on the clock to seal the decision.
Postgame Quotes
"Really proud of our team's fight. Obviously, Princeton has a really good basketball team. They have had a great year – veteran guys. We knew we were in for a major test, especially coming off of our last performance. I think our guys met that challenge in a lot of ways. We took a pretty good step forward here defensively. No Ivy League game is going to be easy." – Assistant coach Mike Sotsky
Next Up
Harvard plays at Brown on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+) and hosts Penn on Monday, Jan. 20 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+) on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
