"The first one was my fault, I got behind the guy," Clemente said. "On the second one, I think the ref was trying to set the tone early. I mean, it was still my fault."

Clemente would sit for the next ten minutes while his teammates hung tough. Prasse-Freeman ran the show in his absence, and the Crimson pounded the ball inside to take the lead while Clemente sat.

"I give Dan credit, he didn't sulk after the two fouls, didn't sit at the end of the bench," Sullivan said. "He was animated and trying to yell plays like an assistant coach."

The first half featured nine lead changes. Northeastern shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the floor, led by guard Charles Cranford and his 12 points. Harvard itself shot 15-of-31 from the floor during the initial frame, and despite stretches in which Clemente, Prasse-Freeman and Harvey were all on the bench, took a one-point lead into halftime.

This was mostly due to Northeastern's biggest Achilles Heel--rebounding. As in previous seasons, the Huskies' presence on the boards was weak. They picked up only 10 first-half rebounds compared to Harvard's 21 boards.

"Rebounding was very important, because Northeastern is a team that has the potential to be an explosive offensive rebounding team," Sullivan said.

Harvard came out of the locker room after the intermission with something to prove; in almost the blink of an eye the game went from close to over.