The Columbia offense capitalized on 13 Harvard turnovers, scoring 24 points off of Harvard’s mishaps to keep the game within range despite an impressive 56.3 percent shooting night from the Crimson.

INSIDE-OUT

Harvard’s post play was instrumental in the beginning of the game, as the Crimson netted 18 of its 34 first-half points in the paint, outscoring Columbia by an eight-point margin in the category. The Crimson finished the game with a whopping 40 points inside.

“The game plan was just to attack, and a lot of penetration was open today,” Casey said. “I think we just took the opportunity and executed and finished well around the paint.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, after the first half, the forwards, co-captain Keith Wright, freshman Wes Saunders, and Casey, led the team from the interior with seven, seven, and six points, respectively. Casey and Wright finished the game with 19 and 16, as Harvard’s post play pushed the team to its first victory of the weekend.

“We hope our post players can be efficient like they were this evening,” Amaker said. “That certainly makes for our offense. Everything is geared toward that, for us to play inside out. [Casey and Wright] did an outstanding job of finishing around the rim and being a presence.”

But in the second period—and especially in overtime—Harvard shifted its focus to rely more on outside shooting. The Crimson attempted just three shots from deep during the entire first half, netting two of those attempts and went two for seven in the second half. In overtime, Harvard matched its first-half total, knocking down two of its three three-pointers.

Casey in particular had a strong night shooting. The junior made both of his three-point attempts on the way to a 7-for-11 mark from the field.

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