NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Harvard senior Noah Kirkwood led a furious Crimson rally in the second half, but the effort was not enough in a 58-55 loss at Yale on Saturday night. The defeat dropped Harvard to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in the Ivy League, while the Bulldogs improved to 12-9 (6-1 Ivy).
 
The Crimson, which trailed at halftime, 27-14, never let Yale get too far out front at the start of the second half and it paid dividends once Kirkwood started to heat up. The senior helped Harvard get to within 36-31 with 11:07 to go thanks to a 9-2 run that saw Kirkwood make two free throws, hit a step-back two and assist on a Mason Forbes basket.
 
The Bulldogs pressed pause on the Crimson run with field goal of its own, but Kirkwood would not be deterred, nailing a trey, a layup and two more from the charity stripe to bring Harvard to within two, 40-38. Over nearly five minutes, Kirkwood scored 15 of the Crimson's 17 points, assisting on the other two points, to keep its deficit at two (44-42, 6:13).
 
Just over a minute later, Louis Lesmond made a three-pointer to cut Yale lead to one, at 46-45, with 5:02 left. The first-year then hit another trey with just under four minutes to play, making it a 50-48 Bulldog advantage.
 
The Crimson kept the score close as the game clock wound down. Three Luka Sakota free throws kept Harvard within four of Yale with 31.0 seconds left. Kirkwood would add a deep jumper with 14 seconds remaining and Harvard forced an Azar Swain turnover on the sideline with seven seconds on the clock. On the ensuing possession, Kirkwood attempted a trey, but it was off the mark, and Harvard fouled, sending Yale to the line. After the Bulldogs made just one of two free throws, Lesmond attempted a three just beyond the midcourt line as time expired, but that, too was not on line.
 
Little went right for either team in the early going, but Harvard still enjoyed a 3-0 lead for the first three-plus minutes. Yale's Azar Swain scored the game's next four points, but even then, the Crimson trailed by only one as the clock ticked toward 13:30. Despite the Bulldogs being successful on a handful of ensuing possessions, Harvard found itself trailing, 8-7, with 10:39 left. From there, however, as the Crimson failed to get anything going offensively, Yale began to pull away and outscored the visitors, 19-7, for the balance of the half to take the aforementioned 27-14 lead into the locker room, setting up the tension-filled second period.

Game Notes

• Noah Kirkwood continued his march toward 1,000 career points. The senior finished with a game-high 21 points (19 in the second half) and now has 998. Kirkwood and Mason Forbes tied for team-high honors with seven boards. Kirkwood also had a game-high three assists and three steals.
• Luka Sakota scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds. The junior averaged 15.0 points during the team's road trip to Brown and Yale.
• With tonight's loss, Harvard had its eight-game regular-season winning streak vs. Yale snapped.
• Harvard is 8-3 in its last 11 games with Yale. 

What's Next?

Harvard will face Yale on Wednesday night inside Lavietes Pavilion. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. ET with the contest set to air live on ESPN+.