The men's basketball team posted a 3-3 record over the winter break, including two wins at the University of Central Florida Holiday Invitational in Orlando, Fla. The victories marked the first time the Bears claimed a holiday tournament title since the 1971-72 season.
The Bears made it to the championship game by defeating host Central Florida in an 83-82 overtime thriller. Co-captain Jason Forte '05 sank two free throws with 4.5 seconds left in the extra period to cement the upset. Head Coach Glen Miller praised his team for its victory over the Golden Knights.
"Our guys took the game as a challenge," said Miller. "Central Florida was 25-6 last season and made the NCAA Tournament. We played well on both ends of the court and ground out a win."
Forte finished with 15 points against the hosts, then capped off a Tournament MVP performance the next day with 25 points versus Charleston Southern in a 65-52 victory. Co-captain Luke Ruscoe '06 was named to the All-Tournament Team on the strength of his 21-point, nine-rebound performance against Central Florida. The versatile junior drilled six three-pointers in the win.
The wins at the UCF Holiday Invitational came at just the right time to boost the team's flagging spirits. The break started on an unsuccessful note for the Bears with an 84-71 home loss against Holy Cross on Dec. 21. The Crusaders out-rebounded the Bears 33-18 and forced Brown into committing 18 turnovers. Not to be lost in the defeat was the play of Forte, Ruscoe, and P.J. Flaherty '07. Forte led the way with 19 points, including a 13-13 performance from the charity stripe. Ruscoe played his usual balanced game with 15 points, four assists, and two steals. Flaherty netted a career-high 14 points in the loss.
Following the UCF Tournament, the Bears faced intra-city rival Providence College at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Jan. 3. The Friars were in control throughout, coasting to a 79-63 victory. The young Bears had no answer for the experienced and more physical Providence frontcourt, as the Friars out-rebounded the Bears, 50-33. First Team All-American Ryan Gomes made his presence felt in the Friar win, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Brown's own All-American, Forte, received a technical foul early in the second half and remained on the bench for the rest of the game.
The Bears proceeded to split the final two games of the winter break, losing 67-56 to Canisius College on Jan. 6 and blowing out Maryland-Eastern Shore 87-38 on Jan. 14. At Canisius, the Bears were off all day from three-point range, making a paltry four out of 23 attempts. Brown's cold shooting enabled the Griffins to register its second win of the season.
The Bears responded to the Canisius loss with a dominating performance at Maryland-Eastern Shore eight days later. Playing their sixth of ten straight road games, the Bears regained their touch from long distance, nailing nine three-pointers. All 13 Brown players made the scoring column, led by Forte's 25 points.
The win brought the Bears back to .500 at 7-7. This marked the third occasion since 1954-55 that Brown registered seven or more non-league wins in a season.
The Bears have been getting significant contributions from several of the nine freshmen on the roster. Damon Huffman '08 is seeing nearly 30 minutes of action per game and is averaging 8.4 points per game. Other first-year contributors include Mark MacDonald '08, Mark McAndrew '08 and Adolphe Coulibaly '08, all of whom are seeing major minutes.
"They're a talented group," Miller said of his first-years. "Each freshman brings something different to the table, and we're expecting big things from them."
The Bears will open up Ivy League play on Jan. 28 and 29 at Princeton and Pennsylvania, respectively. Ruscoe, who leads the Bears with 1.85 steals per game, feels defense will be the key to a successful weekend against the two perennial Ivy powers.
"[Princeton and Penn] play different styles, so each game will be doing different things," said Ruscoe. "Overall, we'll have to play solid defense."
