Sports in brief

Basketball’s Lin and Wright sweep Ivy League honors

With a 3-1 record, men’s basketball is off to its best start in three years — tallying wins over New Hampshire, Holy Cross, and Army — in large part because of the play of junior guard Jeremy Lin (averaging 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, and four steals per game) and freshman forward Keith Wright (averaging 12.3 points, nine rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game).

For their strong play, the two Crimson standouts were recognized by the Ivy League this past Monday (Dec. 1). Lin, who is third in the Ivy League in scoring, second in assists, and first in steals, was named Ivy Player of the Week. Wright, who leads the conference in rebounds and is tied for third in blocked shots, took home Ivy Rookie of the Year honors for the second consecutive week.

Crimson’s run ends at University of South Florida

The season has finally come to an end for the men’s soccer team, with a 2-1 loss to the South Florida Bulls (USF) Nov. 25 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After giving up the game’s first goal on a header at the 4:08 mark, the Crimson fought right back. Halfway into the first half, John Stamatis ’09 tied the game on an assist by fellow senior Michael Fucito. But the Bulls proved to be too much as a deflected shot was rebounded by USF and pounded into the back of the net, putting the Crimson opponent up for good.

Despite the loss, the Crimson celebrated a spectacular year, in which they went 12-6-0 and 5-2-0 Ivy League, and were one point in the standings away from a share of the Ivy League title.

The Crimson — whose four First Team All-Ivy selections led the league (Fucito, Stamatis, Andre Akpan ’10, Kwaku Nyamekye ’10) — graduate three senior starters, but have a strong roster returning as Harvard will be poised for its second Ivy title in four years.