March 8, 2008
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Travis Pinick recorded his second straight double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds as Yale ended its season with an impressive 81-65 victory over Harvard before a crowd of 1,211 at Lavietes Pavilion. Pinick, who had 12 points and 19 rebounds in Friday's win over Dartmouth, was 7 of 14 from the field and added five assists and three steals in 31 minutes.
"I told Travis at the beginning of the season that he has the potential to be one of the best players in the Ivy League," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball. "It took him awhile to find his niche, but he has really come into his own."
Pinick averaged 8.9 rebounds in 14 league games after averaging just 3.7 in non-conference games.
The Bulldogs (13-15) closed the season with three straight wins to finish 7-7 in Ivy play, their eighth straight year with a .500 or better record.
"The only thing we could do in the last three games was try to win," Jones said. "We were fortunate to be able to do that."
Yale's four seniors all contributed to the victory. Nick Holmes scored 12 points, Eric Flato had eight, Matt Kyle added six and Caleb Holmes chipped in three.
"It was good for the seniors to go out with a win," Jones said.
Early on, it appeared it might not happen. The Crimson (8-22, 3-11 Ivy) led 22-9 after nine minutes and was up 27-16 with 6:52 left in the first half. The Bulldogs, though, outscored Harvard 23-3 the remainder of the half and led 39-30 at the intermission.
Yale scored the first four points of the second half. The Crimson pulled back within nine but could get no closer. The Bulldogs' lead grew to 20, 75-55, when Nick Holmes made two free throws with 5:14 remaining.
Twelve players scored for Yale. Alex Zampier had 12 points and Porter Braswell added eight off the bench. Ross Morin scored eight, while Jordan Gibson, Paul Nelson, Garrett Fiddler and Michael Sands all scored two.
Jeremy Lin paced Harvard with 19 points. Andrew Pusar scored 14 and Drew Housman had 12.
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity