MONTREAL -- Sophomore Chisom Okpara of Bronxville, N.Y., scored a game-high 19 points as Harvard defeated McGill 75-47 in a men's basketball opener before a sold-out attendance of 844, one of the largest preseason crowds ever at Love Competition Hall.

In a storied McGill-Harvard rivalry that dates back to the first rugby-style football game in 1874, this marked the Crimson's first-ever hoops appearance at McGill as they upped their lifetime head-to-head series to 3-0.

Harvard led 14-9 after the opening quarter, and 29-25 at halftime before taking control and outscoring the home team 46-22 over the last two quarters.

"It was a tale of two halves," said Ryan Thorne, in his fourth year as bench boss of the Redbirds after 17 seasons in charge of the McGill women's team. "The first quarter, we were a bit shy and nervous and didn't play with a lot of intensity, action and drive. But we picked up the pace in the second quarter... I liked the fact that we tried to come together as a unit and find each other for (scoring) opportunities. Some of our decision-making at times wasn't the greatest but that happens with a new squad as we're searching (for an identity)."

The Redbirds lost four of five starters to graduation and fielded a training camp roster of four seniors, two sophomores and 13 newcomers (three of them transfers). The Crimson lineup featured three seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen.

"I was really impressed with McGill's young team," said Tommy Amaker, a former Duke player now in his 17th season as head coach at Harvard. "Ryan's got those guys playing very hard. They're scrappy and tough. We had a difficult time in the first half dealing with their physicality and how physical they were on the perimeter. We didn't take care of the ball as well as we needed to and we really were a liability at the foul-line. But I thought that our size wore them down, that was a big factor in the game... It takes the wind out of a team's sails when you can manufacture points in the paint like we did."

Harvard outscored McGill 36-14 in the paint. The Crimson had a huge height advantage that contributed to a 45-27 edge in rebounds. Harvard's roster featured five players listed at 6-foot-9 or higher, compared to the Redbirds, whose tallest player was 6-foot-8.

Anthony Gervais, a senior from Piedmont, Que., came off the bench to pace McGill with 11 points, while Montrealer Sean Herscovitch tallied 10 and pulled down eight rebounds. Rounding out the McGill marksmen was Saransh Padhy (7), Alexis Messier (5), Zachary Lavoie-Toure (4), Cameron Elliot (4), Ashton Meace (2), Matt Phaneuf (2) and Dilane Pele (2).

Other Harvard players in double-digit scoring included Evan Nelson (17), Chandler Pigge (12) and Matt Filipowski (11).

The visitors outshot McGill by a large margin from the field at 48.2 per cent, compared to 29 per cent. They shot 9-for-23 from three-point range and went 12-for-21 from the free-throw line. McGill, which won the turnover battle 18-9, went 4-for-25 from long distance and 7-for-12 from the charity stripe.

Harvard (1-0) continues their Canadian tour with stops at Ottawa (Aug. 22), Carleton (Aug. 23), the defending national champions, and in Toronto against the Varsity Blues (Aug. 25). McGill (0-1), which had less than a week of practice, will now have five weeks to hold a proper training camp before the next contest, a preseason home-court matchup with Queen's, another long-time rival, on Oct. 1.

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
WEBSITE:www.mcgillathletics.ca
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca