Yale 77, Harvard 72
Playing in front of a rowdy crowd with everything on the line, Yale (18-8, 10-3) did what it needed to to down the Crimson and remain alive in the closest title race in Ivy League history.
Down 75-72 with time running out, Merchant’s three-point attempt failed with 0:09 on the clock. Yale junior guard Ime Archibong then sank two free throws to clinch the win. Archibong made 11 of 12 free throws for the game.
Though the Crimson was not part of the Ivy title hunt, the players said that the motivation to beat Yale was still there.
“They obviously had a lot more to play for,” Winter said. “But we felt like we owed them from that last game. We felt like if we won there, we could really make some noise [in the league].”
Harvard almost did.
After falling behind 44-34 going into the break, the Crimson’s shots began to fall in the second half. With 15:06 remaining in the game, Harvey stole the ball from Yale sophomore guard Matt Minoff and drained a jumper to cap a 15-6 run and pull Harvard within one, 50-49.
The game stayed close through the next ten minutes, with the Crimson taking its first lead of the game, 63-61, on a layup by freshman guard Jason Norman with 6:01 remaining.
Winter led four Harvard players in double digits with 17 points. Coleman posted 15 and Harvey and Prasse-Freeman chipped in 11 each.
Winter said that the intense atmosphere of Yale’s Lee Amphitheatre may have contributed to his point total.
“I honestly love playing against a team where they have a wild crowd,” Winter said. “It’s easy to keep your energy up.”
The Bulldogs were led by 17 points from freshman point guard Alex Gamboa.
Yale’s victory over Harvard coupled with its 88-59 thrashing of Dartmouth on Saturday leaves the Ivy League on the verge of a three-team first place tie. If Penn beats Princeton at the Palestra on Tuesday, each of the three teams will have identical 11-3 conference marks, and there will be the first three-team playoff in league history.
—Staff writer Daniel E. Fernandez contributed to the reporting of this article.