With 2.8 seconds on the clock, the Tigers called a time-out to set up the play that changed the entire dynamic of the Crimson season and turned a great game into a classic.

Princeton senior Dan Mavraides took the ball from the referee behind the right of the basket. Davis came around McNally on the left, 12 feet from the hoop, and took a pass. He took two dribbles right and pump-faked as McNally leaped in an attempt to contest the shot.

But Davis hadn’t released. Instead, he ducked under McNally as Harvard’s co-captain reached back in desperation with his left arm. But it was too late. Falling left, Davis released a fade-away jumper as the clock hit zero. The ball hit nothing but nylon, sending McNally’s head into his jersey in despair and leading the Princeton faithful to storm the court—just as the Crimson student section had one week earlier.

“I thought we played a tremendous game,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said afterwards. “We played with a great deal of heart and passion, as [the Tigers] did...we’re certainly heartbroken and devastated as you can imagine being on the [losing] end.”

Those two contests against the Tigers defined the Crimson’s record-setting season.

Separately, they represent the rapid ebbs and flows that often arise in competitive sports. But together, their impact changed basketball at Harvard forever.

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.