PRINCETON, N.J.—The stage was set and lights were on, but the Harvard men’s basketball team didn’t show up in top form.

In the first matchup between the two Ivy League favorites, Princeton got the upper hand, defending its home court with a 65-61 victory Friday night at Jadwin Gymnasium.

Led by Douglas Davis’s six points, the Tigers (15-4, 3-0 Ivy) used a 19-2 run between the end of the first half and the start of the second to take a commanding 11-point lead.

Thanks to strong post play from junior co-captain Keith Wright and some timely shots from freshman Laurent Rivard down the stretch, the Crimson (15-4, 4-1) managed to pull within two, but was never able to even the score.

“Certainly a disappointing loss for us,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “I thought it was a tremendous effort by both teams. It showed how much they really wanted to win the game here [Friday] evening.”

The Crimson got off to a strong start, and—led by sophomore Christian Webster’s nine points—opened the contest on a 15-4 run.

But Harvard’s 11-point lead just six minutes in would prove to be its largest of the game.

Tiger Dan Mavraides pulled his team within five, scoring Princeton’s next eight points off two three-pointers and a pair of free throws.

After Crimson sophomore Jeff Georgatos followed with layup, Mack Darrow struck from deep on the Tigers’ next possession, bringing the home team within four, 19-15.

Harvard’s lead hovered around four for the remainder of the period, but a late Princeton run game the Tigers the momentum heading into the break.

With 52 seconds left and the Crimson up six, the Tigers fed the ball to forward Kareem Maddox in the post. Working on the 6’5” Rivard, the 6’8” Maddox turned and scored on the freshman for two of his 14 points.

With the shot clock turned off, Harvard let the clock run down, but with four seconds left, sophomore Brandyn Curry fired a tough shot that clanged off the rim.

Davis pulled down the rebound and raced the other way. With .5 seconds left on the clock, Davis let a running jumper fly from the perimeter that missed its target, but Rivard was whistled for a foul on the shot.

Davis knocked down his three free throws, and Princeton went into the break down by just one.

“I thought that was a huge play,” Amaker said, “I thought we didn’t execute very well at the end of the half. I mentioned to our guys, I thought that was where the game was won and lost.”