Harvey had 17 points, including ten in the first half as Harvard raced out to a 13-2 lead to start the game. That lead soon evaporated, however, when Sacred Heart—powered by Maurice Bailey, who provided a team-high 17 points off the bench—rallied to tie the game at 24 with 6:00 to go in the first.

The Pioneers took a 29-28 lead with less than two minutes to play before the break, but a pair of free throws by Merchant put Harvard back on top. Then, with six seconds left, Merchant managed a steal in the Sacred Heart backcourt and finished the play with a layup, good for a three-point Harvard halftime lead.

The win was the third in four games for the Crimson. Harvard’s 81 points were a season-best output.

Vermont 74, Harvard 54

Just days after claiming its largest win of the year, the Crimson suffered its most lopsided defeat of the season at Patrick Gym in Burlington, Vt. Giving up runs to the tune of 23-4 will do that.

That burst—fueled by eight points from Vermont guard Taylor Coppenrath— staked the Catamounts to a 40-26 halftime lead. The Crimson—which shot just 36 percent from the floor, including a 4-for-19 performance from three-point land—never recovered. Winter (1-for-8) and Harvey (4-for-12) struggled to discover their scoring touch. Coleman was the Crimson’s leading scorer with just 12 points.

Harvard was decimated on the boards, as Vermont pulled down 48 rebounds to the Crimson’s 33. Even worse, after making inroads with its free-throw shooting against Dartmouth, Harvard reverted to its early-season struggles against Vermont, hitting just 7-of-15 attempts from the line.

The loss snapped the Crimson’s two-game winning streak.

Harvard 70, Dartmouth 53

Merchant scored nine points in a span of 3:38 to ignite a 19-3 second-half run as Harvard staved off Dartmouth 70-53 at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson spurt negated a 17-1 rally by the Big Green, who never led but closed within 38-36 earlier in the half before Merchant took over.

With the win, Harvard claimed its second consecutive victory and its fifth in a row over Dartmouth.

Prasse-Freeman led Harvard with 14 points as the Crimson shot 42 percent for the game. More importantly, with the exception of the first eight minutes of the second half, the Crimson frustrated Dartmouth’s offense at every turn. Harvard limited the Big Green to 25-percent first-half shooting and forced ten second-half turnovers, as Dartmouth continued to show post-exam period rust.

Gellert neutralized Dartmouth point guard Flinder Boyd today, holding him to just seven points (none in the first half). Entering the game, Boyd was the Big Green’s leader in points (16.3) and assists (4.3). He was also coming off a career-high 24-point performance against Boston University the previous Wednesday.