After more back-and-forth play, the Hawks took three straight points of their own to draw within one at 12-11, but Harvard exactly matched the Roger Williams run, forcing the Hawks to take a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, Roger Williams received a point off a long jump serve by Kowell and, after a Harvard tally, notched five points in a row to take a 17-16 lead. From there, no more than one point separated the teams until Harvard reeled off three consecutive scores to move ahead, 24-21, forcing another Roger Williams timeout.

This one, however, did not prove nearly as effective as the Crimson extended its run to four. The Hawks were only able to gain two back before the teams again began trading points on each other's serve, in a sequence that included an impressive show of finesse when a Roger Williams player deftly tipped the ball over two would-be Harvard blockers to score.

Finally, at 29-26, crowd favorite Cardet, who had returned from his first-game exile, served out the game for the Crimson.

Continuing the trend of the match, the third game was even tighter than the first two. It began with a service error by each team, the second of which, commited by the Crimson, sparked a four-point Roger Williams run. After two Harvard tallies, the Hawks ran off three more points, prompting Harvard to call a timeout in an attempt to regain some momentum.

During the timeout, Coach Wilson simply reminded his team to play its game and do what it had practiced.

Apparently, the Harvard players took his advice to heart, as they came out of the timeout with a vengeance, reeling off a 7-1 run to take a 10-8 lead. Roger Williams answered with its own four-point burst before the game returned to its characteristic back-and-forth style.