In college basketball, last-second heroics can sometimes come in small packages.

Sophomore guard Patrick Harvey, who at 5'10 is Harvard's shortest player, was larger-than-life on Monday night when his running jumper in the lane beat the buzzer and lifted the Crimson (10-6, 3-1 Ivy) over the Hartford Hawks (4-15, 1-9 America East), 80-78.

Monday night's buzzer-beating shot in Lavietes Pavilion was Harvey's second game-winning effort of the season. In December, Harvey stole a Dartmouth inbounds pass and hit two free throws in the final 3.6 seconds to defeat the Big Green and give Harvard its first Ivy League win.

However, Harvey's game-saving heroics have come in entirely different situations.

Against Dartmouth, Harvard was trailing by four with less than 30 seconds left and was gasping for life. Against Hartford, the Crimson was unable to put the game away in the second half despite being up by eight points with a little over a minute left.

Hartford never regained the lead after Harvard closed the first half with a 12-3 run, but refused to give up and take its fifteenth loss of the season. Led by junior guard Mantas Storpirstis, the Hawks were 7-for-7 from the line and hit two three-pointers in the final two minutes of the game.

"[Hartford] kept confidence down the stretch and obviously made some big shots to put them back in the game," said Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan.

Trailing by three with less than ten seconds left, Storpirstis attempted a three-pointer and was fouled by junior guard Drew Gellert. The shot missed, but Storpirstis connected on all three of his free throws to knot the game at 78.