CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—Senior point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman has been waiting to experience March Madness for four years. On Dec. 22, he missed out on the closest Harvard has come to it so far.

Prasse-Freeman was banished to the bench for the most thrilling moments of what will probably be the Crimson’s most exhilarating loss of the season, an 84-77 setback to Boston College at Conte Forum.

With 5:20 left in regulation, he was whistled for a foul on Eagles’ All-American guard Troy Bell. It was Prasse-Freeman’s fifth of the game, ending his day. Harvard coach Frank Sullivan replaced him with sophomore Jason Norman, while Prasse-Freeman, an incredulous grin on his face, stood in front of the Harvard bench gazing at the scoreboard.

It didn’t look like Prasse-Freeman would be missing much. Harvard trailed by nine and had not challenged much in the second half. The Crimson was never expected to win this one, anyway.

But all of a sudden, things got interesting.

Without Prasse-Freeman, Harvard turned out of necessity to Patrick Harvey, the Crimson’s default backup at the point, to direct the offense. The senior was up to the task, hitting four straight free throws to open Harvard’s scoring in the final five minutes. Moments later, he fed captain Brady Merchant for a baseline three-pointer at the 3:30 mark that made it a one-possession game for the first time since the first half.

After a pair of free throws by Bell, Harvey led the Crimson back down the floor and eventually found Norman, who spotted up and drained a three-pointer from the left wing. That moved Harvard within two at 75-73, and the Crimson bench let out a collective yell as the players leaped out of their chairs.

“That was a huge shot,” Merchant said.

Norman’s basket capped a 12-3 Harvard run. Sullivan, who would mouth platitudes about a perceived lack of respect after the game, was feverishly drawing up plays during timeouts. BC coach Al Skinner was subbing his best players back into the game. And the crowd was finally taking notice, urged on by the Jumbotron to make noise that approached “wicked loud” decibels. It sort of had the feel of March Madness. In December.

“I think the exact words that went through my head were, ‘We’re right there. We’re there,’” Merchant said about his mind set.

Most impressive of all, the Crimson was making its run without its true point guard. Along with many of his teammates, Prasse-Freeman got into foul trouble early. Less than six minutes into the game, he had two.

In years past when Prasse-Freeman exited the game, Drew Gellert ’02 could slide over to the point and the Crimson offense could continue without missing a beat. Harvard was still able to draw up plays for Harvey.

It’s a whole different ball game now when Harvey’s also the one who has to take the ball up the court. You can’t very well pass to yourself.

But while Harvey did chalk up a career-high six assists, he didn’t convert a single second-half field goal without Elliott. That might be the most telling stat about the effect of Prasse-Freeman’s absence.

“It takes a scorer away from being able to run off screens like Pat’s so good at doing,” Merchant said of not having Prasse-Freeman on the floor. “It takes away a guy like Elliott finding the big men close to the rim when people do overplay Pat. It does hurt us, but at the same time, Elliott couldn’t avoid those five fouls. Their two guards are tough to handle, and he did everything he could. We were all committing a lot of fouls tonight.”

Still, after BC’s Louis Hinnant missed a pair of foul shots with 2:34 left, Harvard suddenly had a chance to tie. With a three, Harvard could even take the lead, though that’s not how the Crimson was thinking. “Just get a basket,” Sullivan thought. “Anyway we could, just get a basket.”

But the possession was over before it ever really got started. Harvey was dribbling around the perimeter trying to create something and, with Hinnant swarming him, Harvey lost the handle. Hinnant scooped up the loose ball and BC started killing the clock.

It was one possession too many without Prasse-Freeman, who logged only 26 minutes. On the game’s most important possession, the most important player was the one who was missing, the one who hadn’t scored a point all day.

“You do miss him because he is certainly an expert passer,” Sullivan said of Prasse-Freeman. “I don’t think the players thought, ‘Oh, we can’t execute without him.’ But yeah, we miss him.”

Harvey didn’t score in the final 4:58 of the game. It doesn’t bode well for your chances of winning a close game when your go-to scorer gets shut out in the closing minutes.

As it was, Harvard was forced to content itself with being competitive.

“We have the same amount of wins as we had at Christmas time a year ago,” Sullivan added. “Some of our road wins have been good, solid wins. Hopefully it bodes well.”

Hopefully. But probably only if Prasse-Freeman is on the floor to take part in it.

—Staff writer Brian E. Fallon can be reached at bfallon@fas.harvard.edu.