Chris Lewis recorded 19 points and four blocks as Harvard led wire-to-wire in its 71-63 defeat of California on Sunday in Berkeley, Calif.
Lewis' shot-blocking led an outstanding defensive effort for the Crimson. They limited the Golden Bears to 21-of-60 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-15 from 3-point range.
Lewis made a jumper 20 seconds into the game for Harvard (9-4), which led the rest of the way. The Crimson's advantage reached highs of 13 points in the first half, and 15 in the second.
Cal (6-7) pulled within seven points with a little more than 11 minutes remaining, but a scoring drought that lasted 4:16 and a field-goal drought of more than seven minutes thwarted the comeback attempt.
The Golden Bears cut the gap to 10 points with four straight free throws before Danilo Djuricic's dunk. He then assisted Christian Juzang on a 3-pointer that gave Harvard its largest lead of the afternoon.
Juzang scored 14 points for the Crimson. Noah Kirkwood collected eight points and four assists, which was just two fewer than Cal had as a team.
Justin Bassey grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for Harvard.
Cal pulled within single-digits when Kareem South ended the field-goal drought, first with a 3-pointer then with a drive into the paint. He scored 10 of his 13 points in the final four minutes.
Matt Bradley scored seven of his 15 points from the free throw line, Grant Anticevich chipped in 12 points and Juhwan Harris-Dyson scored eight off the bench.
Bradley scored an and-one with just over a minute remaining that slashed the deficit to six points, the closest Cal had been since 7:59 to go in the first half.
Harvard held off the Golden Bears, however, making 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch despite shooting a dismal 17-of-29 before that stretch.
--Field Level Media
Harvard | California | |
Chris Lewis 19 | Scoring | Matt Bradley 15 |
Noah Kirkwood 4 | Assists | Paris Austin 4 |
Justin Bassey 9 | Rebounds | Andre Kelly 7 |
Christian Juzang 6 | Free Throws Made | Matt Bradley 7 |
Justin Bassey 2 | Steals | Juhwan Harris-Dyson 1 |
Chris Lewis 4 | Blocks | Grant Anticevich 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Harvard | 71 | 51.2 | 5-13 | 24-37 | 11 | 30 | 11 | 5 | 13 |
California | 63 | 35.0 | 4-15 | 17-24 | 6 | 34 | 5 | 3 | 9 |