It was only then that Harvard broke the game wide open.

The Crimson won the tip, and senior Kenyatta Smith immediately found Miller open on the arc for a deep three-pointer to put Harvard up, 53-50. Vermont’s layup on the following possession would be the last time it would score on the night, as Saunders shouldered the offensive burden to put the game away.

After the Catamounts’ bucket, Saunders received the ball from Chambers, spun on his defender’s back, and sunk a fade-away bank shot. Just over a minute later, he tipped in Chambers’s missed layup, giving his team a five-point advantage and all but sealing the victory.

“It was just one of those games where [it comes down to] which team is going to wilt a little bit,” Amaker said. “I thought once we were able to get a two-possession lead in the second overtime, it changed the dynamic of things.”

Saunders’s strong play continued a season-long trend for the wing, as he once again led the Crimson in scoring with 25 points. The senior almost doubled the Catamounts’ total number of steals, nabbing seven to Vermont’s four. Saunders was helped down low by Moundou-Missi, who totaled a career-high 17 rebounds in 38 minutes on the floor.

On the defensive end, Harvard tallied 10 blocks and 14 steals, marking season-highs in both categories. It also held the Catamounts to only 30.5 percent shooting from the field, a season-low for any Harvard opponent.

“We were putting so much energy on the defensive end to lock in and try to defend,” Amaker said. “[This was] just a terrific game…a hard-fought game in a hard-fought environment against a ball club that [has had] a tremendous amount of success.”

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