PHILADELPHIA – Harvard first-year Evan Nelson helped fuel a second-half rally, but the effort was not enough as the Crimson dropped an 82-74 decision on Saturday afternoon at The Palestra. With the loss, Harvard fell to 11-10 on the season (3-6 Ivy League), while the Quakers moved to 11-12 (8-2 Ivy).
 
Nelson enjoyed the best game of his young career connecting on 6-of-8 from the floor, including all five from three-point distance, en route to a team- and career-high 19 points. The guard from Tucson, Arizona scored five consecutive points with sophomore Sam Silverstein adding three, propelling Harvard to an 8-0 spurt, which tied the game at 52 with 10:12 to play.
 
Trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, and now even on the scoreboard, the Crimson stayed on Penn's hip, tying the score twice more before finally taking a 59-58 lead on a Noah Kirkwood jumper. The Quakers scored on their ensuing possession, but Luka Sakota drove the paint for a lay-up and then caused a steal, leading to a fastbreak lay-in. After the consecutive Sakota baskets, Harvard led, 63-60, with 6:37 to go. Penn's Jordan Dingle, however, scored eight straight points to push the hosts ahead by five, only to have Nelson pause the Quakers momentum with a step-back triple.
 
The Crimson knotted the score once more, this time at 71-71, after Mason Forbes crashed the rim for a dunk and Kirkwood dropped in a three. With 90 seconds to play, Dingle was at it again, canning a trey, which was the start of a game-defining 8-0 run and resulting in a deficit too large for Harvard to climb.

Game Notes

• Evan Nelson scored a career-high 19 points, leading the team in scoring for the first time of his career. Not only was he perfect from three-point distance (5-5), he made both of his free-throw attempts.
• Noah Kirkwood scored 14 points to go with a team-high-tying two assists (Mason Forbes, Luka Sakota) and career-high-tying two blocked shots.
• Luka Sakota posted 12 points, six rebounds and a career-high three steals.
• Sam Silverstein grabbed a career-high-matching nine rebounds and blocked a personal-best two shots. The sophomore also added six points.

What's Next?

Harvard returns home on Friday to play host to Columbia at Lavietes Pavilion. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. ET start (ESPN+) and tickets are available at tickets.gocrimson.com.