The Crimson went back to Casey, who again drove into the lane, nearly finishing another conventional three-point play. But it was not to be, and Casey returned to the line, where he missed both tries.

Mack Darrow extended Princeton’s lead to five, finishing a put-back layup off a Hummer miss.

With 2:58 to go, Casey had a chance to bring Harvard within three after being sent to the line, but he missed the front end of the one-and-one. Princeton extended its lead to seven on the other end thanks to a conventional three-point play from Brendan Connolly.

Bray gave the Tigers a 10-point lead 25 seconds later, sticking two free throws to put Princeton up, 59-49, with 2:05 to go.

The Crimson pulled within four off a layup from junior point guard Brandyn Curry (15 points) with 53 ticks left on the clock, but Harvard was unable to get any closer as the Tigers went seven of eight from the line to close the game.

Co-captain Keith Wright notched his fourth double-double of the season, posting a team-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 12 boards. Wright scored four points during a 12-2 first-half run that put the Crimson ahead by seven with 3:22 to play in the first.

From there, the Crimson never trailed until 7:27 remained in the match, when Patrick Saunders stuck a fadeaway mid-range jumper that put the Tigers up 46-44.

Despite the loss, the Crimson maintains a one-game lead in the Ivy League standings as it seeks its first NCAA tournament berth since 1946.

“We’re not necessarily happy with the outcome, but certainly there’s a lot of basketball to be played,” Amaker said.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.