You can’t spell Harvard without ‘D.’ It was fitting, then, that the Crimson (9-3) showcased its defense in the second half last night at Lavietes Pavilion en route to pulling away from George Washington (9-3) for a 66-53 victory.

“It was a tremendous team effort defensively,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “I can’t say enough about the way we’ve been guarding and playing defense.”

Although the Crimson led 38-35 at the break, the Colonials still managed to shoot 46.2 percent from the field in the opening frame. In the second half, Harvard’s defense took over. The Crimson held George Washington to just two points over the first 9:24 of the period and 18 points in the entire half. Defensively, it was Harvard’s stingiest half of the season.

The solid effort may have resulted from key adjustments during the break. After halftime, the Crimson changed its defensive strategy and began switching between man-to-man and zone defenses.

“I thought changing defenses really helped…keep them off guard a little bit,” Amaker said.

Harvard also emphasized transition defense to cut down on the Colonials’ fast break opportunities.

“In the first half they were running on us a little bit,” freshman forward Kyle Casey said. “[In the second period we] got back on transition defense a lot. That was big for us.”

With these changes, the Crimson forced George Washington into shooting 6-of-24 from the field including one-of-nine from beyond the arc.

“[Defense] is the backbone of our team and our program,” Amaker said. “Our guys are embracing that.”

CHARITY STRIPE

Down by as many as nine points in the first half and struggling offensively, Harvard turned its luck around by earning trips to the free-throw line.

“There’s no better offense you can run…[than] if you get fouled every time down the floor,” Amaker said.

The Crimson made a concerted effort to get to the charity stripe, taking 17 free throws in the first half and hitting 13.

“A huge point of emphasis for us, not only for this game but for every game, [is to] get to the foul line,” Amaker added. “We’ll take our chances from there.”

Over a three-and-a-half-minute span late in the first half, nine straight Harvard points came on free-throws, enabling the Crimson to grab its first lead with just under four minutes remaining.