Moundou-Missi powers Harvard to Ivy League

If Cameroon are going to realize the aim of making it to an Olympic Games for the first time, the African country must have confident, fearless leaders that do not back down when qualifying games hang in the balance. Steve Moundou-Missi is that sort of player.

He proved it last weekend while shooting Harvard to the Ivy League title and into the NCAA Tournament.

In their championship decider against Yale, Moundou-Missi, who played for Cameroon at AfroBasket 2013, caught a pass from Wesley Saunders nailed a shot from just inside the top of the key with 7.2 seconds remaining to lift the Crimson to a 53-51 triumph.

"When Wes made the play and they collapsed, he made the entire play," Moundou-Missi said.

"I was wide open. All I had to do was make the shot." Saunders, who had electrified the crowd with a 22-point performance, said: "I trust Steve to knock down that shot more than I trust myself, maybe."

The result meant that Moundou-Missi, a senior, would take part in March Madness for a fourth consecutive year.

The Crimson triumph continued a wonderful journey for the player from Yaounde. Moundou-Missi and Harvard now face a tall order to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament.

Their first opponents will be the University of North Carolina, a team that reached the ACC Tournament Final.

The Ivy League champions have left Boston, which has been hammered by a cold winter, for the sunny climes of Jacksonville, Florida, to take on the Tar Heels in the West Regional game.

"Obviously Boston is not as warm as Florida," Moundou-Missi said, "but we want to make sure this is not a vacation trip and that we take care of business." Once the season does come to an end for Harvard, Moundou-Missi will finish up his academics in Cambridge, where Harvard is located, and then consider his options.

If he is able to play for Cameroon this summer, he will be an important player as they try to win the AfroBasket and qualify for the Olympics.