CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard's furious second-half rally came up short as it fell to Rhode Island, 64-57, Wednesday night at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson, which had its two-game winning streak snapped, fell to 5-3 on the season, while the Rams moved to 6-2.
 
Harvard found itself in a battle in the first half but had manageable deficit after Luka Sakota hit a mid-range jumper with 6:27 left, helping the Crimson get to within five points at 22-17. The hosts, however, went cold scoring just five points the rest of the period as URI raced out to a 38-22 halftime lead.
 
The Rams extended their lead to 21 points less than four minutes into the second half, but Harvard would not go down quietly. A 19-3 Crimson run, including 15 unanswered points, cut its deficit to 49-46 with 8:59 to go, but URI scored 12 of the game's next 16 points to push its lead to 11.
 
Louis Lesmond made one of his five three-pointers to get Harvard to within six points with 1:14 remaining as did Chris Ledlum with 58 seconds left, but each time Rhode Island stopped the momentum by getting to the free-throw line, the last of which provided the final margin.

Harvard Highlights

• Louis Lesmond nailed a career-high five three-pointers en route to a career-high-tying 15 points. It was his third double-figure scoring game of his career.
• Kale Catchings notched his fourth double-digit scoring performance of the campaign, finishing with 10 points.
• Chris Ledlum posted his third straight double-double with 11 points and a career-high-matching 13 boards. Eight of his 13 rebounds were of the offensive variety and marked a season high.
• Noah Kirkwood had his sixth multi-steal game of the season and scored 11 points for his eighth double-figure scoring effort of the season.

Game Notes

• Harvard fell to 15-2 at home over its last two seasons (2019-20, 2021-22) and had its 11-game non-conference home winning streak snapped.
• The Crimson is now 25-1 in its last 26 December home games.
• Harvard's 5-3 start matches its 8-game effort from 2019-20, when it posted a 21-8 record.

What's Next?

Harvard travels to UMass for a Saturday afternoon contest in Amherst. Game time is set for noon ET with the contest airing on NESN and ESPN+.