After finishing last season with only a handful of healthy players sitting on his bench, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker made up for lost time on Friday night in the Crimson’s 87-77 win against Holy Cross, going to his reserves early and often.

Just six minutes into the first half, 11 Crimson players had seen the court, and by the end of the frame, 10 players had put points on the board.

“I thought one of the biggest reasons for our victory was having fresh bodies and everybody contributing,” Amaker said. “We talked about that coming into this game—that we wanted to utilize a lot of bodies and rotate players in and keep people fresh.”

When it was all said and done, the Harvard bench combined for 36 points compared to the 19 points put up by the Crusader bench.

“I think that they were able a little bit more, especially in the first half, to keep fresh bodies coming at us,” said Holy Cross coach Sean Kearney.

Less than three minutes into the game, freshmen Kyle Casey and Christian Webster and sophomore Andrew Van Nest made their first appearances in Harvard uniforms.

By the 13:46 mark, freshmen Brandyn Curry and Dee Giger and senior Pat Magnarelli had checked in. Giger, along with Casey, led the way for the Harvard bench—the pair finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

“Come off the bench, start the game, it really doesn’t matter to me,” Casey said. “The biggest thing is that after the game we got the win.”

SENDING A MESSAGE

Crimson fans no longer have to rely on YouTube slam-dunk contest videos as proof of forward Kyle Casey’s athleticism. The Harvard freshman has finally stepped onto the hardwood—and appears to be as advertised.

The 6’7 forward with a 38-inch vertical entered Friday’s game with 17:03 remaining in the first half and immediately made his presence felt.

On his first offensive possession, Casey set a hard screen for co-captain Jeremy Lin on the wing. Lin fed Casey the ball as he rolled to the basket, and the freshman exploded to the hoop, scoring and drawing a foul.

On the defensive end, Casey demonstrated his vertical leap, swatting away a ball that floated above the rim.

“He jumps out the gym,” Lin said.

Unfortunately for Casey, the ball was on its descent and he was whistled for goaltending.