While the Eagles did themselves no favors at the charity stripe—missing eight out of 24 second-half attempts—Lin calmly put the game away with four free throws.

“Our previous game against UConn, we shot 11-for-18 [at the line], so that was something we talked about,” Lin said. “We were just trying to stay focused and knock them down.”

Acknowledging that the rematch against Harvard carried special significance, BC had no explanation for the demoralizing loss—besides the simplest one.

“This year, they beat us,” Eagles coach Al Skinner said. “They executed down the stretch, and we didn’t. That’s the difference…Last year, we did not show up…This year, they’re a good team, they executed their stuff, they did the things they needed to do, and we did not.”

Both Lin and Skinner agreed that the current Crimson squad has improved upon the group that pulled off last year’s upset, which made headlines all over the nation.

“Our team last year—I don’t think we were as good as we were this year,” Lin said. “The freshmen last year, they’re now a year older and are playing with a lot more confidence, and obviously we have a really talented freshman class coming in.”

But the importance of the non-conference victory hasn’t changed at all.

After the clock hit zero, the entire Harvard roster sprinted exuberantly off the court—its most emotional celebration since a dramatic triple-overtime win over William & Mary in the home opener.

“I like the vibe and spirit of our group right now,” Amaker said.

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