This weekend, Bruno fans filed into the Pizzitola Sports Center in hopes of seeing the Bears overcome their three-game losing streak. But the men’s basketball team (7-13, 1-6 Ivy) lost 69-59 to Harvard (12-9, 5-2 Ivy) and fell to Dartmouth (10-10, 4-3 Ivy) in a 77-70 overtime defeat.
Entering the weekend ranked last in Ivy League standings, the Bears were eager to topple the Crimson — especially after last weekend’s narrow loss to Princeton. But Harvard proved a stout opponent and the Bears were met head-on from the beginning.
With seven even scores over the 20-minute period, the first half was marked by constant shifts in momentum.
After a quiet opening minute with missed opportunities on both ends, guard Isaiah Langham ’29 set the game into motion, recovering a rebound from a missed layup and dishing the ball to forward N’famara Dabo ’27 for a powerful dunk.
Moments later, two Harvard free throws and a Bruno turnover led to a Harvard layup for a 4-2 Crimson lead. But the Bears responded with a crisp offensive sequence: Forward Landon Lewis ’26 set a screen for Langham, who found his way into the paint before passing the ball back to Lewis for a smooth jumper that tied the game.
Harvard capitalized on Bruno’s mistakes early. Facing an aggressive defense, guard Jeremiah Jenkins ’28 committed a sloppy turnover, leading Harvard to sink another jumper.
The Bears answered with guard and forward David Rochester ’28 finding Langham for a layup, setting a theme of back-and-forth play that would persist for the rest of the night. Dabo followed with polished footwork and a midrange jumper to knot the score once again. For the next six minutes, the teams traded a series of free throws and three-pointers, keeping the game tight.
A fastbreak layup from Lewis broke the streak of ones and threes. But with around six minutes to play, a missed Bruno pass led to a wide-open Harvard dunk to put the Crimson up 25-22. Three minutes later, Jenkins drove into the lane. With speed that nearly cost him a turnover, Jenkins found Lewis on the basket for a dunk.
The half closed with a series of Harvard free throws to seal a 34-28 Crimson lead. Despite the deficit, Brown showed no signs of defeat coming out of the locker room for the second half.
The Bears struck first in the second half — Lewis grabbed a rebound and kicked the ball out to Jenkins for a nifty three. Harvard answered with a tough and-one layup in traffic, but a string of points by Lewis cut Harvard’s lead to five.
Still Brown struggled to keep pace as Harvard pulled away. With seven minutes left, the Crimson had built up a 13-point lead over Bruno. The Bears attempted a late push, but it was no match for Harvard’s steady stream of free throws that sealed the outcome.
Despite the scoreboard, the Bears still saw success. Lewis ended the game with a career-high 30 points, and the Bears dominated the paint, outsourcing Harvard 34-18.
Brown had no time to dwell on the loss with Saturday’s matchup against Dartmouth looming.
The intensity of the game began with the opening whistle. Brown kicked off the scoring with a signature Jenkins three-pointer, but Dartmouth responded with their own three to even the score.
With baskets from Lewis and free throws by Jenkins putting the Bears up 9-3 early on, it seemed like there was hope for a Bruno win. But this proved to be Bear’s largest lead of the game, and Brown found itself down 37-26 when the first half buzzer sounded.
Similar to Friday’s game, the second half saw a series of possession changes and scoring runs. Bruno began the second half with a 4-0 run to cut Dartmouth’s lead to five, but the Big Green responded with their own 5-0 run, bringing the score to 42-32 Dartmouth.
For the entire half, Dartmouth pulled away only for Brown to pull the Big Green right back into arm’s reach. With 12 minutes to go, Brown was within one point of a tying score before the Big Green once again bounced back to extend their lead to five. Dartmouth used its momentum to propel them to 63-54 with just under three minutes to play.
Down but never out, Brown summoned a whopping 11-2 run thanks to clutch threes by forward Charlie O’Sullivan ’29, and guard Luke Paragon ’27, aided by buckets from Jenkins. For one of the first times in the game, a win was in sight: The score sat at 65-65, sending the game into overtime.
But sloppy turnovers opened the door for Dartmouth, and the Big Green cruised their way to a 77-70 overtime victory.
The Bears will look to beat their losing streak this Friday as they travel to New Haven to play first-place Yale (16-4, 5-2 Ivy) at 7 p.m.
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.
