But the Bears fought back from there, putting together a 12-2 run capped by a Stephen Albrecht three to cut the Harvard lead to 17-15.

“They played exceptionally hard,” Amaker said. “We got off to a great start and made some shots, and then it was a dogfight like it always is against Brown.”

Casey went to work again later, with a layup and another jumper over McCarthy to make it 26-20. But Brown hung tough for the rest of the half, not allowing Harvard’s lead to get larger than seven. The Bears got as close as two on a McCarthy layup with 42 seconds left in the first, and a pair of subsequent Curry free throws made it 31-27 going into the break.

All five Brown starters finished in double figures, but its reserves were outscored 14-0 by the Crimson’s.

“Our bench and our balance have been the keys for our team,” Amaker said.

That statistic, combined with Brown’s 11-20 mark from the free throw line, allowed the Crimson to cruise to a victory over a team that led Harvard at halftime by 21 and 11 points in its two meetings last season.

“Our goal this weekend was to come here and get two wins,” Casey said. “So we came down here and did what we set out to do.”

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