With Harvard up by only two three minutes into the second half, Gellert found Harvey at the free-throw line extended. Harvey made the open jumper. He hit a wide open three-pointer on the ensuing possession after Xavier scored at the other end.

After the X-Men turned the ball over at the other end, Harvey went to work again. He dribbled into the lane and released a driving eight-footer as he made contact with Xavier's James Maksymiw.

Both the shot and the free throw that followed were good, and Harvard was on top, 55-47.

"It's not easy, making a return after a year of not playing college basketball on any level," Sullivan said. "It's good to see that he could do that well for us."

For a while, it looked like it wouldn't even get that interesting. The Crimson opened the game with a relentless full-court press that forced Xavier to cough up the ball on each of its first five possessions. Harvard jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first two minutes.

However, the X-Men fought back valiantly. Fourth-year guard Jordan Croucher led the charge, swiping the ball away from Prasse-Freeman and leading a successful fast break that reduced Harvard's lead to one. Croucher had 16 points and two steals in the first half, and the Crimson led by only two at the half, 42-40.

Since Xavier had solved the press after Harvard's initial run, the Crimson abandoned it entirely in the second half. Focusing its defense on the half court proved effective, as Croucher was no longer able to wreak havoc on the fly. Harvard held him to four second-half points, and the final score approached the blowout that seemed likely in the game's early stages.