CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Drew Housman had six steals and a balanced scoring effort led Harvard to a 72-63 victory over Columbia in an Ivy League game at Lavietes Pavilion Friday night.

Harvard improves to 12-13 overall and 4-7 in the Ivy League while Columbia dips to 11-14, 6-5 in league play.

A back and forth game saw Columbia endure a barrage of blocks and offensive rebounds by Harvard's frontcourt duo of Keith Wright and Evan Harris early in the first half. The Crimson doubled up Columbia in shot attempts in the opening session and had more offensive rebounds (11) then the Lions had total rebounds (10) at the break.

Still, Harvard led by just three at intermission as the visitors enjoyed a large advantage at the free throw line with an 8-for-11 mark compared to just three attempts for the Crimson.

In the second half Columbia pulled ahead, 35-33, on a mid-range jumper from Kevin Bulger but the Crimson rattled off six straight with Wright and Harris doing the damage down low. A pair of free throws from Niko Scott kept Columbia's deficit at four, 43-39, with 11:49 remaining.

Housman then struck on the defensive end, swiping steals on consecutive possessions that led to a pair of fastbreak layups. The defensive stand sparked a decisive 13-2 run capped by a fastbreak triple in the corner from Andrew Pusar from Max Kenyi to make it 56-41 with 7:52 left. The final play of the run was especially damaging to Columbia as Scott hit the ground hard and had to be helped from the court.

Columbia went to a small lineup and tried to pressure its way back into contention. It almost worked as the Lions scored on five straight possessions and used an 11-2 run to whittle the deficit to six, 58-52, in just three minutes. The run came to an end as Oliver McNally hoisted a wild shot in heavy contact at the buzzer with Harvard quickly running the deficit to double figures and holding on for the win.

Four players finished in double figures led by Jeremy Lin and Wright with 14 apiece. Lin also finished with game-highs of nine rebounds and five assists. Housman and McNally added 10 points apiece and Pusar had nine. Wright also added four blocks while Harris had two stuffs.

Columbia was led by Noruwa Agho's 13 points while Patrick Foley had 12.

Harvard returns to action Saturday night with a game against league-leading Cornell at 7 p.m.