Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, seen here with forward Thomas Batties II, has won seven Ivy League titles.

Senior forward Chandler Piggé splits the Yale defense for two of his 12 points.

Whenever Harvard and Yale square off in sports, whatever the sport, the intensity of competition is always going to be at a maximum level. The men and women who participate in sports at two of the best institutions of higher learning in the world rarely encourage students to become professional athletes, though some participants from these Ivy League colleges do go on to play in the pros.

The athletes who attend Harvard and Yale take the term “student-athlete” to heart. They realize there is much more to their lives than sports. But if you ever wish to question the athletic pedigree of an Ivy League competitor, consider the college basketball game between Harvard and Yale at the John J. Lee Amphitheater in New Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday, Jan. 31. It was a classic that would rival any game in the history of this rivalry, which dates to 1901, with Yale coming out on top 41-16.

This year, when the smoke cleared, it was Harvard beating the Bulldogs, 67-65. In a game that produced 13 lead changes and kept the crowd on the edge of its collective seats for the length of the contest, the Crimson (12-9 overall, 5-2 in Ivy League play) had the last word over the home team Bulldogs (16-4 overall, 5-2 in Ivy play). Harvard’s victory puts them into a tie with Yale for the top spot in the Ivy standings.

Harvard coach Tommy Amaker explained the win: “We played strong in the first half, taking a 29-21 lead at intermission, and hung tough down the stretch to get this win on the game-winning 3-point shot by Tey Barbour. I am very grateful for this victory.”

This win ended a four-year drought for Harvard at Yale and extended their current road winning streak to four games.

Yale coach James Jones explained: “A very disappointing loss for us. Hats off to Harvard — the kid made a tough shot, a bank shot. I mean, you know, those don’t happen every day. We lost the game in the first half. We did not play Yale basketball. We were not together, and that’s the reason we find ourselves on the wrong end of this game.”

Harvard was led by sophomore forward Robert Hinton. His 26-point output (9 for 16 from the field, 6 for 7 from the foul line) and the strong inside play of Chandler Piggé (12 points) helped the Crimson to a 53-47 lead with 6:05 remaining in regulation time. The Eli’s were led by former St. Sebastian’s guard Trevor Mullin (21 points on 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point distance), and Nick Townsend (18 points), who led the Bulldogs on a 7-0 run to give Yale a 54-53 lead.

Harvard answered with four consecutive points to regain a three-point advantage at 57-54. During that time, the Crimson held Yale scoreless for a 4:17 stretch late in the first half to build a lead. The teams traded baskets down the second-half stretch with Mullin scoring twice in the final two minutes, including a threepoint shot that gave Yale a 59-58 advantage. He then followed with a two-point jumper to give his team a 61-60 lead at the 1:33 mark.

Two baskets by Townsend gave the Bulldogs leads of 63-62 with 56 seconds remaining and again at 65-64 with 21 seconds left, setting the stage for Barbour’s game-deciding three-point shot. Coach Amaker opined: “At times you need to be a little fortunate, and we were with that shot. … It’s [the] kind of shot that Tey Barbour makes for our team.”

The Crimson guard added, “We knew this was going to be a fight. Coach [Amaker] told us in the beginning that we were going to have to, you know, be the tougher team. …And big credit to [Chandler Piggé], big credits to Rob [Hinton] and Thomas [Batties II]…they kept us steady on the offensive end. …It’s a real group effort.”

Harvard will end its three-game road trip at Dartmouth College.

The Big Green are in third place in the Ivy League with a 4-3 record behind these two combatants. Dartmouth also beat Harvard 76-68 at Lavietes Pavilion in their last meeting.

Upon watching this year’s Harvard men’s basketball squad, you come away with a respect for how hard they play. They are a team that lacks size but makes do with Thomas Batties as its major frontcourt player, surrounded by guards Robert Hinton, Tey Barbour, Ben Eisendrath, and (captain) Chandler Pigge. They are well-coached by Tommy Amaker, who arrived at Harvard in 2007 and has won seven Ivy League championships in his 19 years, making him the winningest coach in school history.

My respect and admiration for Amaker’s professional leadership with Harvard has grown to immense levels. His Crimson team has seven games left in the regular season and look to solidify their lead going into the Ivy League tournament at Cornell.