Watching Yale coach James Jones as he sat stunned in the fourth row of the Lavietes Pavilion bleachers, it was clear that this was not where he had expected his season to die.

A week earlier, Yale had embarrassed then-Ivy leader Cornell, thumping the Big Red 67-48.

A night earlier, Yale nearly doubled up Dartmouth en route to a 78-40 victory. The Bulldogs—winners of four of their last five contests—were back in the Ivy race with a 4-3 record, just 1.5 games back of league leading Princeton.

Harvard was headed in the other direction. The Crimson came into the game winners of zero of its last five and fresh off a 91-67 drubbing the night before at the hands of Brown. Yale came into the game searching for its 10th win of the season; Harvard sought its third.

After five minutes of play in the first half, everything was as expected. Yale held a 13-4 lead, and Harvard had already lost a key player to foul trouble in junior guard Kevin Rogus, who had to take a seat after a blocking foul and a technical.

“I took a charge, I hit the ground,” Rogus said. “I didn’t say anything to the ref, didn’t say any curse words, didn’t say anything, I just hit the ground. And then they call a [technical]. There’s nothing you can do.”

But over the next five minutes the tide shifted. The Crimson role players came in and filled roles perfectly. Junior guard David Giovacchini knocked down a jumper, while sophomore forward Luke McCrone and freshman guard Jim Goffredo each knocked down threes to keep Harvard within six.

After sophomore forward Matt Stehle chipped in two buckets from close range and Rogus hit two threes, the Crimson had squared the contest at 24. Harvard pressed its advantage, taking a 35-30 lead into the locker room.

“I don’t think we came out with a great deal of intensity to start the game,” Jones said.

The halftime break did little to halt the Crimson’s momentum as it jumped out to a 46-36 lead with 16:38 remaining and appeared to be in total control. But that’s when things began to fall apart.

Yale guard Edwin Draughan went off, converting a runner in the lane, a three-pointer and a layup to pull the Bulldogs within four. Coming out of a media timeout, Yale guard Scott Gaffield stole the ball from Giovacchini and hit Draughan, who finished the fast break with a dunk. On Harvard’s next trip down the floor, Draughan stole the ball from McCrone and raced down the other end of the court, finishing a layup while drawing a foul.

“We asked Edwin at halftime to be a leader and be one of the best players on the floor—which he is,” Jones said. “And he stepped up and he made some plays.”

All told, the Bulldogs had posted an 18-5 run, had erased the double-digit deficit and had managed to forge a three-point lead of their own.

Two weeks earlier, Harvard held 14-point leads over Cornell and Columbia on consecutive nights, only to lose both games by double-digits. After watching Yale steamroll the Crimson during the middle portion of the second half, a similar fate seemed to be lurking on the horizon.

In this contest, Harvard managed to stave of that final blow. With just 5:35 remaining in the game, Rogus nailed his fifth three of the night to give the Crimson a 63-62 lead—its first in nearly seven minutes. Draughan immediately answered with a three of his own to put the Bulldogs back ahead. After the two sides traded baskets, it was Rogus’ turn once more, as he hit his sixth and final three of the night to give Harvard a 68-67 advantage.