The men’s basketball team (8-15, 2-8 Ivy) fell short to Harvard (14-10, 7-3 Ivy) 56-53 in Cambridge on Friday. But the Bears redeemed themselves the next day, surmounting a double-digit deficit to defeat Dartmouth (10-13, 4-6 Ivy) on the road. With a 79-76 win, Bruno spoiled the Big Green’s senior night and snapped Brown’s six-game losing streak.
Following last week’s crushing loss to Yale, Bruno stood in last place in the Ivy League. Brown entered Harvard’s arena on Friday intent on flipping the script.
In a tightly contested matchup against the Crimson, the teams exchanged points until the 9-minute mark when Harvard launched a 7-0 run to seize control, setting the tone for the half. The Crimson would lead by as many as 13 points in the opening period and carried a 31-22 advantage into halftime.
But Brown responded out of the break with renewed energy. Guard Luke Paragon ’27 opened the second half with a three-pointer to spark a 7-point run that cut the deficit to 31-29. Harvard answered with a 10-4 stretch of its own, extending its lead to 41-33.
Down but never out, the Bears continued to battle. Trailing 50-40, Brown mounted a 6-2 spurt led by forward Landon Lewis ’26, who scored a hook shot over two defenders.
With just under five seconds left, guard Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson ’27 knocked down a clutch three-pointer to cut the deficit to one. After Harvard converted two free throws, guard Isaiah Langham ’29 had a good look from beyond the arc but missed a potential game-tying shot as time expired.
Despite the loss, the Bears’ performance fueled their spirit heading into the Dartmouth matchup.
After winning the opening tip, guard Jeremiah Jenkins ’28 threaded an inside pass to Lewis for a layup less than 20 seconds into the game. Dartmouth answered immediately with a four-point play, draining a three and converting a foul to seize early momentum.
Lewis responded with another strong finish over his defender, but the Big Green knocked down another three to keep pace. Wrisby-Jefferson added a mid-range jumper before Dartmouth launched an unanswered 7-point run.
Guard Adrian Uchidiuno ’27 cut into the deficit with a well-timed backdoor cut for an easy layup, and after two more Dartmouth buckets, guard and forward David Rochester ’28 found himself open in the paint for a smooth finish.
After six straight missed three-pointer attempts by Bruno, forward Charlie O’Sullivan ’29 finally turned Bruno’s luck with a wide-open three from the top of the key 10 minutes in. Following a missed free throw by Dartmouth, Wrisby-Jefferson converted a hook shot on the other end to keep Brown within striking distance.
Still, Dartmouth extended its lead to 36-24 with just over two minutes remaining in the half, the team’s largest advantage of the night. Brown closed the half on a 6-2 run, and the scoreboard flashed 38-30 as the teams headed into the locker rooms.
But Bruno entered the second half with the same sense of energy and purpose headlining the first. After tracking down a Wrisby-Jefferson miss, forward N’famara Dabo ’27 opened the scoring with a powerful dunk to set the tone.
After another Dabo dunk, Lewis decided it was his game for the taking, scoring all 10 points in Brown’s 10-2 run, including an incredible play where he poked the ball free on defense, then ran the court to sink a thunderous dunk.
“My teammates set me up well every possession and encouraged me throughout the game,” Lewis wrote in an email to The Herald.
With a layup by Jenkins, the Bears tied the game at 49 apiece.
With 10 minutes remaining, Lewis orchestrated a give-and-go with Dabo, finishing with another emphatic dunk. Tied 58-58 soon after, Brown then pulled ahead with a 9-2 run fueled by more Lewis points and another Rochester three to build a 67-60 advantage.
Dartmouth responded with a 9-1 run of its own to reclaim a 69-68 lead, but Wrisby-Jefferson swung the momentum back to Bruno when he buried his first three-pointer of the night with under three minutes remaining.
After being fouled on a three, Paragon stretched the lead to five with a soaring free throw. A missed Dartmouth free throw sealed the Bears’ victory 79-76.
Brown shot a season-best 55% from the floor in the much-needed win. Lewis, the Ivy League Player of the Week, matched a career-high with 30 points and recorded his second double-double of the season.
It “definitely feels good to win one, but it was an ugly win nonetheless,” Lewis wrote in an email to The Herald. “We’re going to build on the confidence we got from the win and keep doing what works.”
Bruno will look to carry this momentum into their next game against Princeton (8-17, 4-6 Ivy) on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Harry Guo is a senior staff writer and on the vertical video and design teams. He is from Andover, Massachusetts, and plans on concentrating in Business Economics and International and Public Affairs. In his free time, he enjoys writing poetry and playing poker.
