Junior guard Jeremy Lin notched a career high 30 points as the Crimson basketball team beat Holy Cross for the first time in three years. Harvard aggressively attacked the hoop the entire game to win its fourth home opener in a row, as the Crusaders fell 69-59 to the Crimson last night at Lavietes Pavilion.

Lin shot 9-15 from the field and picked up nine rebounds and four steals to go along with his barrage of points. It was the second year in a row he set a career high in points in the home opener—he scored 23 points in last year’s win against Mercer.

“What more can you say about Jeremy Lin?” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We think he’s one of the best players in our league—if not the best player.”

Lin was solid from behind the free throw line, but so was the rest of his team. The Crimson shot 25 more free throws than Holy Cross, making 32 of 39 attempts behind the charity stripe. The offensive aggressiveness of Harvard seemed to be the factor that sparked a streak that gave the Crimson a first half lead, but also made up for less than stellar field goal accuracy.

“That’s always been one of the strengths of our team—getting to the free throw line,” Lin said. “We have a lot of different guys who can attack, and our post-men draw a lot of contact.”

While Harvard was able to maintain a double-digit advantage over its Crusader opponents for the last few minutes, that was not the story the entire game. The Crimson began the game slow as Holy Cross seemed to get a hand on every Harvard possession, leading to a total of 12 first-half Crimson turnovers. When Harvard was able to get the ball to the hoop, the shots did not fall that often in the first moments of the game, and the Crimson ended up with a lowly 28 percent field goal percentage in the first period.

The Crusaders were also pressured by their counterparts in the first half as aggressiveness from both teams dominated the game-play. Harvard forced even more turnovers than Holy Cross in the first period, but because the Crusaders were sharp-shooting nearly half of their field goals, they held as large as an 11 point lead most of the way through the period.

Getting to the line proved to be the difference that gave the Crimson the advantage, though, as Harvard streaked for 16 unanswered points in the last six minutes of the first half, 10 of which came from the free throw line. The Crusaders tied up the game before the half, though, and the teams went back to the locker room even with the score at 29-29.

“We were aggressive, very active,” Amaker said. “It’s amazing how that sort of play spills over to the next player or the next possession. I thought that really helped us—it became contagious to be aggressive.”

The second period was dominated by the same high tempo play from both teams, with jump balls, steals, or blocked shots seeming to come on every other possession. It was Lin that led the rejuvenated Crimson in the second half as Harvard lost its lead again only once. He garnered 19 of his points in the period, including nine points from the new longer-range three-point line.

Harvard freshman Keith Wright made his presence known, as well, pulling down eight of his 12 boards in the second half, including seven offensive rebounds.

Three freshmen started for the Crimson last night, including Wright and guards Oliver McNally and Max Kenyi. Kenyi was the only other Crimson player in double digits, notching 13 points, including eight perfect free throw attempts.

Senior forward Evan Harris chipped in nine points and eight boards for the Crimson, but his defensive presence was also dominant as he blocked three Crusader shots, not including a couple that were called back for goaltending.

Holy Cross forward Greg McCarthy also notched a career high in points, garnering 18 to go along with eight rebounds.

The Crimson will stay at home this week and faces Army next this Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.

—Staff writer Paul T. Hedrick can be reached at phedrick@fas.harvard.edu.