The Crimson had a chance to pick up its first win on Dec. 22, but Rogus had his three-pointer at the buzzer blocked and the Broncs went eight for eight from the field in the extra session to seal the victory.
“We didn’t play any defense in overtime,” Stehle said.
Harvard battled back from two different 11-point deficits to tie the game—the second time riding the backs of a pair of unlikely contributors in its recovery.
Sophomore forward Luke McCrone scored six of his career-high 16 points during an 8-0 Crimson run as freshman guard Ko Yada directed the Harvard offense.
McCrone shot seven for eight from the field in just 15 minutes of action.
Stehle turned in his—and the Crimson’s—second double-double of the season, recording career highs with 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in a career-best 39 minutes while converting all 10 of his free throws.
Rogus led Harvard with 26 points.
But the Crimson couldn’t contain Rider guards Jerry Johnson and Robert Taylor, who combined to torch Harvard for 49 points on 20-of-33 shooting.
Northeastern 61, Harvard 58
BOSTON, Mass.—Northeastern point guard Jose Juan Barea returned from arthroscopic knee surgery earlier than expected and dished out a game-high eight assists while adding 14 points in the Dec. 19 win.
The Crimson was hurt by a 6:33 second-half field-goal drought, but also by its big men finding themselves in foul trouble.
Stehle, in particular, was limited to just three minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls.
“Matt clearly has to learn how to play with one foul early in the game,” Sullivan said. “He really makes our team offense a lot easier…He’s had too many games for us right now where he’s only played half the game…He can’t be a 20-minute player.”
Stehle still tied Beal for the team lead with 13 points.
Meanwhile, Northeastern power forward Sylbrin Robinson corralled 13 rebounds—eight on the offensive end—and blocked four shots.
Harvard also went just two for 19 from three-point range, including a zero-for-10 performance in the second half.
Rogus went one for nine from behind the arc and was held scoreless after halftime after leading all scorers with 10 first-half points.
—Staff writer Alan G. Ginsberg can be reached at aginsber@fas.harvard.edu.