Sold-Out Crowd Sends Harvard Men's Basketball Off With 74-56 Win Over Penn

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard men's basketball team treated a sold-out Lavietes Pavilion crowd to a 74-56 win over Penn Saturday night as the team closed out its regular season.

Senior Agunwa Okolie scored a game-high 16 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists in his final game at Lavietes. Classmate Evan Cummins added six points, six rebounds and three blocks, with Patrick Steeves contributing seven points, four rebounds and two assists. The trio contributed to three Ivy League championships and three NCAA tournament appearances during their careers, going 83-39 overall and 44-9 at home.

Zena Edosomwan turned in his 12th double-double of the year with 11 points, 14 rebounds, a career-high seven assists and three blocks. Corey Johnson and Tommy McCarthy, meanwhile, chipped in with 14 points and 11 points, respectively.

Harvard (14-16, 6-8 Ivy League) dominated Penn (11-16, 5-8 Ivy League) on the glass where it held a 44-28 advantage. The Crimson defense also limited the Quakers to 32.4 percent (22-68) shooting and 5-of-21 from 3. Matt Howard was the lone double-digit scorer for Penn with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Harvard began the game with a 17-3 run that included six points and five rebounds from Edosomwan. Johnson hit the program's record-setting 213th 3-pointer during the stretch as the team combined to go 7-of-13 from the floor.

3's by Corbin Miller, Steeves and Johnson extended the margin to 26-7, and following another triple from McCarthy the score stood at 31-9. A pair of buckets from Okolie moved the score to 37-13, and Harvard took its largest lead of the half on Johnson's third make from deep, 40-15.

Penn closed the half on a 5-0 run, however, putting the score at 40-20 at the intermission.

The Quakers continued to roll as the second half began, scoring six-straight points to pull to within 40-26. Okolie ended Harvard's drought as he got into the lane, and after a four-point play by Miller the momentum was back on the Crimson's side, 46-26.

Johnson scored five points as part of a 10-0 run that saw the score go to 56-29, but Penn responded with a 12-2 stretch to once again get within 58-41 with 9:58 to play. The Quakers kept coming and cut it to 64-51 on Matt Howard's and-1, and with 3:19 remaining Jackson Donahue's 3 put the score at 68-54.

The Crimson was able to close the game out in the waning moments, however, and sent its senior off to a standing ovation.

Game Notes: Saturday's home finale was played in front of a sell-out crowd, Harvard's seventh sell out of the year … Head coach Tommy Amaker ranks seventh in Ivy League history for overall wins (175) and is eighth in conference victories (84) … Harvard has set a new program record with 220 3-pointers … Zena Edosomwan recorded his 12th double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, matching Keith Wright '12 for the most double-doubles in a season under head coach Tommy Amaker … Zena Edosomwan's 276 rebounds this season rank seventh in program history … Corey Johnson's 74 3-pointers this season rank third in program history and are a Harvard freshman record … Evan Cummins' 75 career blocks are the 10-most in program history while his 45 blocks this season are also 10th-best in program history … Harvard's 1,118 rebounds this season are the fifth-most in program history … Harvard's 452 assists this season are the second-most in program history … Harvard's 151 blocks this season are the second-most in program history.