MYSTERY MAN

With its tallest starter—sophomore forward Bennet Davis—held to only 21 minutes while battling foul trouble for much of the game and faced with a Harvard team that held a major advantage in size, Northeastern was forced to call on freshman forward Shawn James to try to contain the Crimson big men.

James, who entered the game without a single collegiate appearance on his résumé, certainly answered the call.

With his 6’9 frame, long arms and ability to jump out of the building, James constantly harassed the Harvard forwards and rejected a total of seven shots in the contest. Not only did the Huskies have only a single blocked shot as a team this season coming into the game, but James’ seven swats were also a school-record.

“What a talented, talented frontcourt player,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “We had no clue who he was [or] how good he was, only that there was a chance that this kid was going to be in the game. They’ve got a terrific young player there.”

James’ contributions weren’t limited to the defensive end, however. He scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and even drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key in the first half. He also added eight rebounds—three on the offensive end—to finish the game just two rebounds and three blocks shy of a triple-double.

FAST BREAK POINTS

The victory was the Crimson’s 150th at Lavietes Pavilion, which was first used for basketball in 1982. “If you play enough games, you’ll get to 150,” quipped Sullivan, who earned his 142nd win at Harvard, tying Floyd Wilson as the Crimson’s all-time winningest coach…Cusworth received a technical foul in the second half for hanging on the rim after a failed dunk attempt…Harvard scored more points in each half of this game than it had scored in any half of action so far this season.

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.