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SALT LAKE CITY — The 2012-13 Harvard Crimson men’s basketball team can boast about something no previous Harvard team can — a win in the NCAA tournament.
The Crimson upset the New Mexico Lobos in the final game of the evening in the Salt Lake City region, winning by a score of 68-62.
The Crimson will advance to the third round in large part due to the play of their junior guard, Laurent Rivard. Yes, Rivard is the name responsible for ruining brackets across the nation.
#boxscore
Not only can Rivard solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than two minutes, according to his team biography, the Harvard guard figured out how to solve the New Mexico defense, helping lead his team to an upset in the second round game.
Rivard was the second leading scorer for the Crimson on Thursday, with all of his points coming from the perimeter. He tied his season-high mark of five 3-point shots, all coming on assists from his teammates, on his way to 17 points.
It should not be a surprise that Rivard was lights out from the perimeter for the Crimson. Rivard made just seven shots inside the arc this season for Harvard — and 74 3-point shots. He shot 42 percent on 2-point atempts and 40 percent from 3-point range.
How did a 6-foot 5-inch guard from Saint-Bruno, Quebec, impact the game? Rivard’s impact came from having impeccable timing, delivering when his team needed him most.
His third three came at the 5:06 mark of the first half, the possession after the Lobos had tied the score at 18. His fifth three came with 6:21 remaining in the second half, retaking the lead at 55-53.
Lyons leads Wildcats into second round
The Arizona Wildcats took care of business Thursday night, playing stifling defense while Mark Lyons had one of his best games of the season, to defeat the Belmont Bruins 81-64 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.When the game was in crunch time, Tommy Amaker, the Crimson head coach, gave the responsibility of inbounding the basketball to Rivard, who was forced to use the team's final two timeouts before getting the ball to Siyani Chambers and then to Wesley Saunders following the next Lobo basket.
Rivard also finished the game with the second-most rebounds for Harvard, grabbing five defensive boards on a night when every Harvard big man was in foul trouble as time wound down.
In the end, Rivard and his teammates were able to walk off the court victors. They will return to EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday to play the Arizona Wildcats.
Dan Lewis covers BYU sports for KSL.com. He is currently attending Brigham Young University, studying communications with an emphasis in multimedia journalism.
