TRUE GRIT

While Harvard certainly prides itself on its offensive balance, Friday night was all about the team’s toughness.

Taking a season-low 11 three-point attempts, the Crimson dominated the paint, totaling 40 points inside to its opponent’s 22.

Sophomore forward Kyle Casey and junior co-captain Keith Wright had 23 field goal attempts, nearly half of the team’s total. And faced with the big men of the top rebounding team in the Ancient Eight, the front-court pair picked up a combined 20 rebounds, helping their team win the overall battle, 40-30.

“He was very active, aggressive, and certainly did a heck of a job on the glass,” Amaker said of Casey. “[He] responded after not having a lot of rebounds against Dartmouth our last game; his turnaround was just outstanding.”

The squad’s six blocks—its most in five games—reinforced the message that Friday’s contest was relatively light on finesse. No player made this clearer than Harvard junior co-captain Oliver McNally, who went to the floor hard on several occasions.

“He got whacked around a bit,” Amaker said. “But I didn’t want to substitute for him. I wanted to make sure he got his butt up and leave him in the game.”

“I don’t think this team would be even close to as good without Oliver,” Casey added. “He always brings the fight.”

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