HONOLULU, HAWAII---"The BYU Cougars will be up double-figures by halftime in route to a 20-30 point victory. So Harvard has a post presence in Zena Edosomwan? So what! Is a 6'9" big man really suppose to deter one of the elite stat sheet stuffers in the nation in Kyle Collinsworth or an assassin from beyond the arc in Chase Fischer? This journalist doesn't think so!
---Peyton Wesner

In by far the most surprising upset of Day 1 from the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, the Siyani Chambers-less Harvard Crimson picked up their fourth win of the season in an impressive overtime victory over the BYU Cougars.

Coming out with confidence and swagger, Evan Cummins' got the party started with four of Harvard's first six points to cause a BYU timeout. Did it help? Nope as Harvard's leading scorer and rebounder Zena Edsomwon personally outscored the Cougars 4-2 heading into the first media timeout. 10-2 Harvard?! Oh, but it didn't stop there, for the Crimson then flexed their muscles from beyond the arc with a pair of unmatched triples by Corey Johnson to go along with another trey from Tommy McCarthy. 

19-3 Harvard?! With 12:54 left in the first half? What was going on with BYU? Well for one, they were one for eleven from the field and one for four from the charity stripe. In other words, they didn't come ready to play! Additionally, Harvard was simply hotter than Crimson red as they had missed only two shots up to that point while nailing eleven. It was as simple as that! 

Thankfully for those who made the trip to the Stan Sheriff Center from Provo, Utah, the Cougars were able to mount a first-half comeback, starting with a Kyle Collinsworth's "and one" with 11:32 remaining. From there, BYU was able to somehow take the lead on a Zac Seljaas three pointer with 38 seconds remaining (29-28), which capped off a 26-9 spurt by the blue and white. However, thanks to one of Corbin Miller's three first half twine ticklers, Harvard was able to at bring a 31-29 advantage into the locker room. 

While most expected BYU would come out in the second twenty minutes and completely run over Harvard considering how both teams finished the first (BYU red-hot and Harvard ice-cold), the fact that the Crimson not only kept the game close but actually traded blows with their opponent was very surprising. Actually the second half was so evenly matched that for the remainder, neither team possessed more than a two-possession lead (BYU's largest lead was 4 and Harvard's 5). But one must recognize the Cougars' largest edge came with only 2:17 left in regulation and their defense allowed Patrick Stevees to counter with four unanswered to knot the game at 64 with 44 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Harvard's Miller made a huge mental mistake, for he fouled BYU sharp shooter Chase Fischer from beyond the arc when attempting an ill-advised triple. The 76.2% free throw shooter went to the line with a chance to force the Crimson to make a three to tie. Yet, he couldn't fully capitalize as he made only two of three from the charity stripe.

With 34.1 on the clock when inbounded, Harvard hurried the ball up court in the form of Tommy McCarthy. McCarthy dribbled up to the three-point arc, turned his body, and flipped the ball to Steeves, who was able to run down hill and get a contested layup to fall. 66 all! Following a timeout by Cougars' head coach Dave Rose with just over 12 seconds left, the ball went to Fischer, not Collinsworth, who had yet to make a shot up to then, Nothing but air! We were heading to overtime!

In what would be a very high scoring, fast-paced five minutes, BYU was again able to take a four-point lead with 2:41 left (76-72) thanks to five of Collinsworth's game-high 23. 101 seconds later, the Cougars found themselves up 3 with a minute later. But they couldn't shut the door! Because of two turnovers and giving the Crimson free points at the free throw line, in which they did not squander, BYU actually found themselves trailing by a trey with four tics left! Rushing the ball towards their basket, and almost losing the ball in the process, Mr. Triple-Double (Collinsworth) fired an off-balanced, desperation heave that almost went in! The Harvard Crimson had done the unthinkable!

Performing in the Spotlight

Averaging a double-double before landing in Honolulu, Harvard's Zena Edsomwon was the one player the Cougars knew they needed to stop. Good luck with that! Making half his shots (9 of 18) and grabbing 17 rebounds, the "jazzy junior" was a force to be reckoned with, for he netted a game-high 23. Really the only place the 6'9" post man could be stopped was at the charity stripe as he made only 5 of 12 attempts! The Harvard Crimson will take on Kareem Canty's Auburn Tigers in tomorrow's first winner bracket semi-final.

Kyle Squared

While half of BYU's dangerous scoring attack, Chase Fischer and "fab freshman"  Nick Emery, struggled to put the "biscuit in the basket" (17 points on 5 of 17 shooting), Kyle Davis and Kyle Collinsworth were phenomenal. With Davis recording a double-double (23 points and 16 rebounds) and Collinsworth stuffing the stat sheet (23 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists) the Cougars were able to possess controlling leads while keeping the game close when trailing. Unfortunately, 'close' only matters in horseshoes and hand grenades, not basketball games. The BYU Cougars will face former Mountain West rival New Mexico in the first game of Day 2.

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About the author
Peyton Wesner
Editor, that has loved and watched sports. He enjoys traveling the country to watch division one college basketball and professional baseball, basketball, and football. In addition, Peyton is a huge enthusiast of Missouri Valley Conference basketball and International League (Triple-A) baseball as he focuses about these topics and many more on his sports blog Courtside with PW at http://courtsidewpw.blogspot.com/?m=1. You can contact him through his email, [email protected], or his twitter, @courtsidewpw.