In an unofficial start to the post-Dan Clemente era, the Harvard men’s basketball overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat St. Francis Xavier in the Crimson’s first and only exhibition contest of the 2001-02 season.

Junior guard Patrick Harvey scored a game-high 22 points and senior Tim Coleman had a double-double to lead Harvard to the 85-75 victory at Lavietes Pavilion.

The Crimson—which opens the regular season this Friday against Fairfield—went on a 13-3 run to start the second half, cutting the X-Men’s lead to 51-50. Then, with just under seven minutes to play, junior guard Drew Gellert hit a three-pointer to give Harvard the lead for good.

Gellert finished the game with 18 points to go along with six rebounds. Had the game counted, Gellert’s 18 points would have been a career-high for the Harvard captain.

“A lot of our offense runs through our guards and Drew is quick and can get past guys,” said junior point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman. “He’s good at creating things.”

Gellert—who enters this season just 34 steals shy of the Harvard career record—had seven takeaways on Saturday night.

The Crimson shot better than 55 percent (34-of-61) from the field in the game. Harvey, who played a game-high 36 minutes, connected on 6-of-9 three-point attempts.

“The three-point shot will be a big part of our offense this year,” Harvey said.

Junior center Brian Sigafoos also chipped in 11 points to give Harvard four players in double figures.

With Clemente gone due to graduation, Harvard will look to get more players involved in the scoring. Clemente was Harvard’s top scorer last year, averaging 18.7 points per game, and the Crimson’s fourth all-time leading scorer.

“We’re going to have a lot of parity [scoring-wise],” Prasse-Freeman said. “We don’t have any stars. We just have a lot of different guys ready to contribute.”

Though Clemente is gone, the Crimson will be helped inside by the return of the 6’8 Coleman who missed last season for academic reasons.

After sustaining a cut during pre-game warm-ups, Coleman came off the bench and poured in 20 points. He also grabbed a game-best 13 rebounds.

“It’s great to have Timmy back,” Prasse-Freeman said. “He’s not only strong in the middle, but he gives us a lot of leadership.”

Coleman’s presence inside helped Harvard bounce back after a slow first half. The Crimson outrebounded St. Francis 21-12 after the break. Those rebounds generated 12 second-chance points.