"It does a lot for our confidence to win on a day when we didn't even shoot the ball well," said Prasse-Freeman. "It really shows we had the will to win."

Dartmouth had gotten off to a quick 8-0 lead in the game's opening minutes. The Big Green even led 29-28 at halftime.

But with just 2:07 expired in the second half, Prasse-Freeman hit a trey to give the Crimson its first basket of the half and a 31-30 advantage. Harvard managed to hold the lead the rest of the way, as solid defense held Dartmouth to just 22.7 percent shooting and 14 total points in the second half.

Even when key players such as Coleman and freshman forward Sam Winter got into foul trouble in the second half, the Harvard bench provided steady support. Senior Ethan Altaratz and freshman Onnie Mayshak both came in as reserves and saw a fair number of minutes.

"Ethan and Onnie really stepped it up," Coleman said. "They hit a couple of big shots and played some great defense."

The telling statistic for Harvard was the less-than-impressive scoring line for Dartmouth center Shaun Gee. The 6'7 senior, who was named a first-team all Ivy selection one year ago, had just seven points and four rebounds before fouling out Saturday.

"You just always have to be aware of where he is," said Coleman. "We did a good job of swarming him whenever he got the ball."