The Crusaders held a five-point advantage 6-1, with just over 15 minutes to play, after Dudzinski—who ended the half with nine points—tallied his first basket of the contest on a layup.

But in the following 3:39, Harvard outscored the Crusaders, 10-4, on the way to its first lead of the game after a three pointer from Webster. The Crimson was able to extend this one-point lead to nine by the end of the half.

“It’s a game of runs,” Amaker said. We got on a run, they got on a run; that’s how it works. We were fortunate enough to withstand. They rallied, no question about it. They did a good job of putting themselves in a position to win.”

Four Crimson players—Chambers, Webster, Saunders, and Rivard—finished in double-figures. Saunders led the team in scoring with 15 points on nine shots. The win marked Harvard’s fifth straight over Holy Cross, pushing the Crimson to 6-1 against the Crusaders with Amaker at the helm.

“I was very pleased with the effort that our kids gave to fight through this after we lost the lead,” Amaker said. “We had a big margin, a 14-point lead, and they battled back. I was very pleased we were able to show the composure and poise necessary during the stretch to pull this out.”

—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger can be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.