Harvard downs MIT 78-66 in opener behind Lewis

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Chris Lewis scored 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, freshman Noah Kirkwood added 13 and Harvard's bench contributed 35 points in a 78-66 win over MIT in Tuesday night's season opener.

Lewis, who also had three blocks, scored eight unanswered points to open the second half and Harvard led 54-41 on Henry Welsh's layup after a 6-0 run. MIT closed to within 65-60 on Hamilton Forsythe's 3 with 6:30 left to play, but went scoreless for nearly 4 ½ minutes with Harvard scoring 10 straight.

Harvard led 11-2 on Kirkwood's 3, but MIT rallied to a 26-25 lead on AJ Jurko's jumper. The lead traded hands until Kirkwood's layup with 3:23 left in the first half put Harvard up 34-33 and the Crimson led 40-39 at halftime.

Justin Bassey added nine points for Harvard, which shot 54.5 percent from the field.

Tim Roberts and AJ Jurko each scored 19 points for the Engineers, who shot 38 percent from the field (23 of 60). Roberts also had 10 rebounds.