With Harvard’s go-to scorer largely silent in the game’s opening minutes, the team relied on Saunders’s backcourt-mate, Okolie, to put points on the board. And four minutes into the game, the Crimson was up, 10-0, largely thanks to the offensive facilitation of Okolie.   

The scoring was tipped off by Chambers, who received a pass near the left elbow, took two dribbles, hesitated, stepped back, and sunk a 17-foot jumper.

On the next Crimson possession, Chambers found Okolie, who was cutting to the basket. 4-0. Okolie then found senior big man Kenyatta Smith down low for a layup, and then followed that up with a jump shot of his own from the right elbow. Smith’s short hook shot from the right block moments later pushed the lead to 10-0. 

While Harvard’s offensive onslaught may have been halted later in the first half, Okolie’s production continued past intermission. His highlight of the night came with 15:50 to play, when he received the ball near the left elbow. With Northeastern’s freshman Devon Begley on his back, Okolie spun quickly to his right, gliding down the left side of the paint before laying the ball into the hoop. The wing finished the evening with a season-high nine points, shooting four-of-four from the field for the game.

"He’s been banged up a little bit and I wasn't sure how much he'd be able to go, as he missed some practice this week,” Amaker said. “[But] he really gave us some offensive production, attacking the basket, using his athleticism—his production tonight, I thought, was outstanding and very much needed."

The Huskies were able to stick around largely due to their activity on the offensive glass. The visiting squad totaled 15 offensive rebounds, resulting in 19 second-chance points. Eatherton led the squad in its efforts, scoring a game-high 16 points to go along with a team-high six boards.

 “I’m disappointed in our ability to [] rebound but that's a function of our defense—that people are going to try and get early shots against us and try to get it off the backboard because our defense has been able to lock in and be pretty solid,” Amaker explained. "I think we are growing and still a work in progress…. We always talk about the two ‘B’ words, our bench and our balance, and the closer we get to those two words, the more we will hit our stride." 

Amaker was unable to give any timetable for the return of senior forward Jonah Travis, who has missed the last few games with an injury. Travis, he said, has been restricted from working out with the team due to lingering symptoms. 

—Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at juliet.spies-gans@thecrimson.com.