In the Harvard men’s basketball team’s 77-51 victory over Bryant on Friday, the 26-point margin of victory masked the Crimson’s lackluster first-half performance. With less than four minutes to go before intermission, Harvard held just a 26-24 lead over its winless opponent.

“We anticipated that they would give us a battle,” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said. “We knew that they had played some tough competition...and they were better than the 0-3 record.”

The most obvious problem was Harvard’s repeated difficulty in completing scoring opportunities.

“We didn’t finish as well as we wanted to in the first half,” Amaker said. “We left a number of buckets where we just didn’t finish.”

Short shots by big man Keith Wright and co-captain guard Jeremy Lin rattled around the rim but simply refused to drop. Fellow post presences—freshman Kyle Casey and co-captain Doug Miller—also struggled down low, combining for only two points in the first half.

Standing at an imposing 6’9, Bryant sophomore center Papa Lo undoubtedly altered some shot attempts, and the Bulldogs’ overall physical style of play helped them stay in the contest.

“I thought their kids were out-scrapping us a little bit for loose balls,” Amaker said.

The Crimson would quickly turn things around. Following a late first-half timeout, Harvard closed out the frame strongly, going on a 9-3 run.

The momentum carried over into the game’s final 20 minutes, when the Crimson finally found its edge, shooting a stellar 53 percent from the field.

POWER IN THE PAINT

The number of the night was 40—as in the number of points Harvard collected in the paint. The Crimson only scored 30 interior points in last week’s home opener against William & Mary, despite having three extra overtime periods of play.

“I thought in the second half, we attacked the rim better,” Amaker said. “It makes a big difference when we get chances to finish with layups or dunks.”

Much of the increased production has been a direct result of the play of senior Pat Magnarelli. Since his return from a knee injury that cost him his last two seasons, the forward has been an interior anchor for Harvard.

“It drives you crazy because you see what we’ve missed for two years,” Amaker said. “He’s such a steady, calming force out there on the floor for our team.”

Magnarelli collected 11 points—including a thunderous two-handed dunk over a Bulldog defender—and four rebounds in only 17 minutes off the bench, but he was just one component of a concerted team effort to go inside.

Wright led his squad in shot attempts with 10, scoring nine points, and Miller and Casey had a number of contested layups find the bottom of the net.

“We always want to go inside and work from the inside out,” Magnarelli said. “We knew they were a little undersized, so we definitely wanted to pound it down low.”

BREAKIN’ OUT

Amaker’s commitment to using his deep bench is clear, as he has consistently relied on an 11-man rotation throughout the team’s first three games.

His substitution strategy has made it a question of when—not if—a freshman will step up and have a breakout performance.

It was Dee Giger’s turn to shine against Holy Cross one week ago. The newcomer had 13 points on four-of-six shooting from behind the arc, including a couple of crucial three-pointers in the second half, earning him Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Although Giger’s stroke has since cooled off a bit, classmate Christian Webster stole the spotlight Friday night. The rookie guard tied Lin with a game-high 12 points, making five of the seven field goals he attempted.

“I thought this was one of Webster’s better games,” Amaker said. “He can certainly shoot the ball.”

His trio of three-pointers came in the first half, providing Harvard’s only long-distance success until Lin hit a trey with four seconds left before intermission.

The Washington, D.C. native displayed his versatility, racking up all three of his assists in the second half, nabbing a couple of offensive rebounds and a block for good measure.

“Right now it’s about getting the freshmen comfortable,” Lin said. “Once everyone’s comfortable, we’re hoping we can run away with everything in terms of offense.”

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.