Despite claiming a slight 40-38 edge in rebounds, the Crimson allowed Fordham to pull down 19 offensive boards and earn 26 points on second-chance shots on the night.
“We just weren’t boxing out and finding guys sometimes,” Travis said. “That was problematic, but we stopped and said, ‘This is what we need to do,’ and I think we did a lot better job.”
The Rams scored 42 points from inside, while Harvard netted just 26 from close range.
In the end, free throw shooting may have been Fordham’s undoing. Although the Rams scored more than the Crimson down low, Harvard tallied 39 trips to the line in the contest and was able to capitalize on Fordham’s 29 fouls.
The Crimson shot 74 percent from the free-throw line, good for 29 points, while the Rams earned eight points at the charity stripe on just 14 attempts.
“Fordham is a really good team,” Travis said. “We knew we would have to be together, play defense, and come out at a whole new level if we wanted to pull this W out.”
—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger can be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.