Houston Cougars fall to Harvard Crimson 57-56 in college basketball action

Rob Gray (32) scored 15 points and pulled
down six rebounds against Harvard.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 23, 2016) Entering the second half with a slim 34-30 over the Harvard, the Houston Cougars dropped a 57-56 decision to the Crimson in front of 4,004 fans at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston on Friday. December 23, 2016. The loss drops the Cougars to 9-3 on the season as they prepare to begin their American Athletic Conference schedule on December 28 against UConn in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Cougars shot 33% from the field, their third lowest for the season, with Rob Gray connecting for 15 points. No other Cougar was in double digits, with Danrad Knowles added nine and Galen Robinson, Jr. contributed eight. Damyean Dotson led all Cougars with seven rebounds, all on the defensive end of the court. Houston led for most of the game with the Crimson taking the

Wes VanBeck (12) scored six points and
tallied three rebounds in his first career start for Houston.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

lead 57-56 with 1:10 remaining in the game. The contest was at a standstill for 2:59 in the second half until Robinsonree throw to put Houston up 40-36. The score remained at 40-36 for that time until Bertrand Nkali hit a three-point to break the scoreless streak. Houston led by nine at the 10:18 mark in the second half and held the until Harvard scored a layup by Zena Edosomwan to take the lead with 1:10 remaining. Wes VanBeck, the hard-working guard for Houston got his first career start against Harvard, playing 26 minutes, scoring six points, and pulling down three defensive rebounds. Bryce Allen came off the bench for Harvard, scoring 21 points, which tied his season high that came against Stanford on November 12, 2016.

After beginning conference on the road on December 28, they travel to Florida to take on UCF on New Year‘s Eve. They return home on January 4, 2017 to face Tulsa with an 8 p.m. CST start. Harvard will host Howard University at home on December 30 to close out 2016.