“Drew watched more tape on Boyd than any guy that I can recall,” Sullivan said. “He was watching tape as late as 11:30 this morning just watching [Boyd] put the ball on the floor.”
“Drew played out of his mind today,” Prasse-Freeman added. “He really shut Flinder down. We came out and they couldn’t get good looks at the basket. Our ball pressure really messed up their offense.”
In addition to his defensive play, Gellert also added six assists and eight points against Dartmouth, rounding out a well-balanced Harvard attack that saw seven players score eight or more.
The game marked the first time this season in which junior guard Pat Harvey did not lead Harvard in points. Harvey shot just 3-for-10 but still managed 10 points.
“First we had to convince ourselves that we didn’t need to rely on [graduated senior] Dan Clemente’s presence. I think we’re over that hump. The next thing is convincing ourselves that we can still play good, quality basketball if Pat is indeed not having a good shooting night,” Sullivan said.
The Harvard backcourt stoked the Crimson’s offense in the first half. Gellert led the team in scoring with seven points and Prasse-Freeman added six as the Crimson guards continued to make a concerted effort to create scoring chances off the dribble.
Dartmouth, meanwhile, struggled mightily in the first half. Aside from 11 points from freshman Mike McLaren—who led all scorers today with 15 points—Dartmouth was hard pressed to hit a shot in the early going. Harvard only made matters worse, outrebounding Dartmouth 26-13 en route to a 35-19 halftime lead.
But after Winter hit a short-range jumper to open the second half, Dartmouth reeled off 13 unanswered points. Jumpers by McLaren and Steve Callahan then moved the Big Green within two with 12:21 to play. But Merchant made four of the game’s next five baskets. The last of those—a lay-up off a steal in the Dartmouth backcourt—pushed Harvard’s lead back up to double digits at 50-39.
The Big Green never threatened again, as the Crimson made its free throws down the stretch. After averaging just 57 percent from the line before today, Harvard had its best free-throw shooting performance of the season against Dartmouth, nailing 21 of 26 attempts (81 percent).
The Crimson forwards continued to play well. Coleman had eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the game, while Winter added 10 points and 8 boards. Also encouraging was the effort of Sigafoos, who came off the bench and just missed a double-double with 9 points and 9 rebounds in 17 minutes.
The battle was the first Ivy contest of the 2001-02 season. League action resumes tomorrow, when Harvard meets Dartmouth for a rematch in Hanover, N.H.