After scoring only 20 points in the first half and twice going five minutes without a field goal, Harvard needed an offensive spark.

Enter junior captain Jason Norman.

With the Crimson trailing 22-20 just over a minute into the second half, Norman sliced through the lane and finished with a difficult layup. Two possessions later, he drove into the paint again, laying the ball in with his left hand and drawing the foul.

Six minutes later, with Harvard down 31-29, Norman once more took his man off the dribble and finished with another layup.

“[Norman] really brought us back in the second half,” sophomore forward Matt Stehle said. “He’s the reason we won this game... He lit a fire under us.”

An offensive explosion ensued as Harvard completed a 23-3 run to take a 49-34 lead with just over five minutes remaining. But the catalyst was the aggressive offensive play of Norman—a facet of his game which was highly anticipated coming into this season, but had been notably absent during the team’s first 13 games.

“[Attacking the basket] is his game,” Sullivan said. “It’s so integral to our team. It’s a big relief when he can get to the rim. Our team feels better, and it’s a big release for him.”

Norman only scored 10 points on the afternoon, but all 10 came on finishes in the paint.

Almost Free

With 8:19 remaining in the game, Dartmouth’s Steve Callahan fouled sophomore point guard Michael Beal, putting Harvard into the bonus for the remainder of the game. The Crimson made its way to the line 15 more times down the stretch, converting 13 of those opportunities.

For the game, Harvard had 25 attempts from the charity stripe to the Big Green’s six—only the third game of the season in which the Crimson had more attempts from the line than its opponent.

“We did a better job defending with our feet,” Stehle said. “We concentrated this week on having good closeouts to shooters and I think it was easier [to guard without fouling] because we knew their [offense].”

Harvard committed only 13 fouls on the game—its second-lowest total of the season.

Seven of the 13 fouls came in the last six minutes of the contest, after the Crimson had already pushed its lead to double-digits.

Leading the effort to avoid committing fouls were Stehle and Beal. The two—who each came in averaging an astounding 3.9 fouls a game—combined for only one foul.