Lavietes Pavilion may have installed more comfortable bleachers this offseason, but the best place to watch the Harvard men’s basketball team continues to be on the road. After all, that’s where the Crimson has been the hottest.

Coach Frank Sullivan’s road warriors won their third straight game and stayed undefeated away from Cambridge with a 76-71 victory against Colgate Friday night.

Captain Brady Merchant led the Crimson (5-2) with 18 points and seven rebounds. Twelve of his points came in the first half, when Harvard used a 22-8 run to help turn a two-point deficit into a 40-28 halftime advantage.

The win improved Harvard’s road mark to 4-0 and wrapped up a two-game road swing that also included a triple-overtime win at Rider last Tuesday night.

“This was a huge game for us,” Merchant said. “Not only was it important to win on the road, but it got us over a hump that’s bothered us for a while. We haven’t beaten Colgate in five years.”

An inconsistent road team in the recent past, the Crimson is off to its best start away from Lavietes Pavilion since 1996. Harvard finished 10-4 in the Ivy League that year.

The Crimson was 4-9 on the road last season.

“We’ve always been strong in our gym,” said senior center Brian Sigafoos. “We feel like we can beat anybody there. What’s been important is to play well on the road.”

So far, Harvard has met that goal.

“What I’m seeing from us is consistency,” Merchant said. “I would say this is the strongest we’ve been [in the last four years]. I can’t picture any team that can put as much experience on the floor at once as we can.”

Senior point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman flirted with a triple-double for the second straight game Friday, dishing out a season-high nine assists to go along with eight points and six rebounds.

Against Rider last week, he had 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. He also had the game-winning basket in the 85-82 win.

“Something I see in his game is a new attitude—he really has a sense of urgency about him this year,” Merchant said. “I think he recognizes this is his last year to get to the [NCAA] tournament.”

After the game Friday, Colgate coach Emmett Davis told reporters he couldn’t have been more impressed with Prasse-Freeman.

“I think he is as smart a player as I’ve ever coached against,” Davis said.