CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard returned from a final-exams break to defeat Holy Cross, 62-54, Sunday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion. Ten Crimson players saw the floor, helping the home side improve to 7-4 on the season. The Crusaders, meanwhile, fell to 2-10.

Harvard and Holy Cross matched each other for a majority of the first half, but the visitors scored nine unanswered points to take a 22-19 lead with 5:19 left in the frame. The Crimson, however, stopped the run with a pair of Idan Tretout free throws, spurring its own 9-0 spurt, highlighted by a Kale Catchings dunk and drawn charge on back-to-back possessions. Harvard closed the half on a 13-2 run to take a 32-24 lead at the mid-game break.

The Crimson's plus-11 effort to end the first half proved pivotal as the teams were nearly even in the second half. Holy Cross cut the lead to five at 36-31 with 17:01 remaining, but the Crimson answered with a 9-0 run, capped off by consecutive baskets from Noah Kirkwood to make it a 45-31 contest. The Crusaders never got as close as five again, as they were held to 25-percent from long-range (2-8) for the game and 36-percent from the field (21-58). Harvard went scoreless for a 3:44 stretch across the final five-plus minutes, but with a 57-50 lead, Catchings converted a layup before a trio of Tretout free throws sealed the victory for the Crimson.

Harvard Highlights

• The Crimson's 13-2 first-half-ending run was spread amongst three scorers (Kale Catchings – 5, Sam Silverstein – 4, Idan Tretout – 4).
• Noah Kirkwood battled foul trouble, but still managed to reach the double-figure scoring plateau for the 11th time this season. The senior finished with 11 points.
• Chris Ledlum notched his team-leading fifth double-double of the season and seventh of his career (17 points, 11 rebounds).
• The Crimson held Holy Cross to their second-lowest point total of the season with 54 (53 vs. Air Force on Nov. 20).

Game Notes

• Harvard improves to 7-4 on the season, matching its 11-game start from 2019-20. That team went on to win 21 games, the fifth-most in program history.
• The Crimson won its third straight game vs. Holy Cross.
• Harvard improved its home record to 6-1 and is now 39-5 in its last 44 games at Lavietes Pavilion.
• The Crimson is 10-3 against Massachusetts schools since the beginning of the 2018-19 campaign. Harvard is 4-1 this season against Bay State programs and 47-19 during the Tommy Amaker era.
• Harvard has now won six straight games and nine of its last 10 in the first game back from final exams.

What's Next?
The Crimson return to Lavietes Pavilion on Tuesday to play host to Howard at 7 p.m. ET. Harvard's final non-conference game of the season is set to air live on ESPN+. Tickets, meanwhile, are available at tickets.gocrimson.com.