Most of the offensive damage was done by the hot-shooting Rivard, Curry, and freshman Ernest Rouse (six points). Wright—the squad’s leading scorer entering the game—was saddled by foul trouble and double teams all game.
“He had two huge games against Holy Cross and George Mason, so we kind of figured that they were going to double team him in the post,” Curry said. “He didn’t force shots; he kicked the ball out...He didn’t try to do too much, and we picked him up.”
The Crimson’s other three big men combined for just five points; Mercer easily outscored its opponents in the paint, 32-10.
But the Harvard guards proved to be the difference. With just under three minutes to go, Curry went left at the top of the circle and threw the ball back across his body to Rivard on the right wing, who drained his final trey of the day to seal a six-point Crimson win.
The victory improved Harvard to 4-0 all time against the Bears.
—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.