NORTH DAKOTA STATE 81, HARVARD 72

Harvard cut North Dakota State’s lead to one point three times in the final 15 minutes of Friday’s game at Bison Sports Arena in Fargo, N.D., but could never gain a lead of its own, eventually losing to the Bison by nine.

“We just weren’t able to stay consistent and get the defensive stops that we needed,” Golen said. “We had some feel-good, quick, easy shots that gave us a lot of momentum, but then we weren’t able to make a stop, and they were able to get the momentum going back in their way.”

Several Crimson comeback attempts during the game were foiled by Harvard’s 23 turnovers.

“I think there were a lot of first-game nerves,” Golen said. “The first half was very, very sloppy.”

NDSU tallied 30 points off Crimson mistakes, while Harvard netted just 12 points on the Bison’s 12 turnovers.

“It was a combo of first game jitters and a lot of new people coming into the rotation,” Rutzen said of the turnovers.

Despite the errors, Harvard found itself in the game with six minutes left, after Lippert hit a three to cut the home team’s lead to six. But over the next four minutes, the Crimson went zero for three from the field and committed a turnover as the Bison extended their lead to 11.

NDSU sealed the win by going 10 for 12 from the free-throw line in the game’s final two minutes.

“What’s really exciting is fact that we only lost by nine and that was a really bad game in terms of playing with each other,” Rutzen said. “We definitely improved [on Sunday.]”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacobfeldman@college.harvard.edu.