A back-and-forth struggle finally ended when Prasse-Freeman missed a three-pointer from the left side of the court that would have won the game. Twenty seconds earlier, Yale forward Ime Archibong hit an uncontested lay-up that put the Bulldogs up for good.

"It was a well-played game, I just thought we couldn't stop Yale when we had to get stops," Sullivan said. "We couldn't stop them in the first half, couldn't stop them in the second half, and we couldn't get stops in overtime."

The Harvard defense had trouble all night against the Elis, who shot 53.1 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent from beyond the arc. Archibong scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the game and sophomore point guard Chris Leanza, despite having eight turnovers, led all scorers with 22 points, including a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range.

Yale, however, had a young team which included seven freshmen and five sophomores on the roster. Its inexperience under pressure let Harvard slowly back into the game in each half. After falling behind 23-12 in the first half, the Crimson used an 8-0 run and good shooting by Harvey, who finished with 19 points, to pull ahead 36-34 at the half. In the last 8:10 of the half, Yale had only one field goal, a Leanza three-pointer, while the rest of the Eli points came from the charity stripe.

It was Yale, however, that came out strong to start the second half, and quick inside scoring gave the Elis a 49-40 lead only four minutes into the second stanza. The Crimson, however, had its own inside presence. Sophomore center Brian Sigafoos, only several games removed from a concussion, had his best game yet, scoring 15 points, picking up 10 rebounds and blocking four shots in 27 minutes.

Harvard tied the score at 61 with 7:30 remaining, and the rest of the game was a fight. Winter scored four straight points to put the Crimson up 67-64, but Harvey hit only one-of-two free throws to put the Crimson up by four. Finally, Sigafoos hit two more to give Harvard a comfortable six-point margin with less than three minutes left in regulation.

Yale Captain Neil Yanke and guard Paul Vitelli hit lay-ups to drop the lead to two, and after an Eli steal the Crimson fouled Leanza. He hit only one-of-two to cut the score to 70-69. Sigafoos was then fouled in the lane, and hit one-of-two free throws with 28.7 seconds left. The Crimson, letting Yale slip back in the game again, fouled Leanza with twenty seconds left, and the guard hit both shots to tie the score at 71 apiece. A final desperation jumper by Harvey missed, and the teams headed to overtime.

Once again, Yale jumped out to a lead on free-throw shots, and once again Harvard rallied late only to shoot itself in the foot again. Harvey hit a three-pointer and sophomore guard Brady Merchant dunked and hit a three-pointer, but Gellert made only two of his six free throw attempts, setting the stage for the final minute of overtime.