CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Guard Corey Johnston of Ottawa, Ont., scored a game-high 15 points as the Harvard Crimson defeated McGill 70-45 in a men's basketball cross-border exhibition game before 1,252 at Lavietes Pavilion, Tuesday.

It was Harvard's second win over McGill in as many years as the Crimson squeaked out a 66-63 decision on Nov. 7, 2015. Harvard, a storied NCAA Div. 1 squad that plays in the Ivy League, improved their record to 8-5 overall. McGill, recently ranked by Maclean's magazine as the top university in Canada among institutions with medical schools and a broad range of PhD programs, saw their record drop to 12-8 overall, including a 2-4 mark against NCAA programs.

Harvard, which only led 25-22 at halftime, had a 20-11 edge in turnovers, resulting in a 21-5 points advantage.

Jenning Leung, a senior from The Philippines, was the only McGill player to reach double figures in scoring. He tallied a dozen points, primarily on 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range. Teammates Francois Bourque of Terrebonne, Que., and Avery Cadogan of Winnipeg, added six points apiece.

McGill shot a tepid 27.5 per cent from the floor, making only 14 of 51 attempts. They went 6-for-21 from beyond the arc and dropped just 11 of 18 from the free-throw line. Harvard, which shot poorly in the first half, finished at 42 per cent from the floor (21/50), 28.6 from downtown (4/14) and 72.7 from the line (24/33).

The Redmen had a slight 38-37 rebounding margin despite a perceptible height disadvantage.

An emphatic dunk by Chris Egi started the game and the Crimson scored eight of the first 12 points over the first five minutes. At the 9:34 mark, Harvard took a 14-9 lead, after a lay-in from Henry Welsh and a pair of free-throws from Seth Towns. McGill responded with a 7-0 run to hold its first advantage, 16-14, two minutes later.

The two teams stayed within one possession of each other for the remainder of the half, as the Crimson headed to the locker room ahead, 25-22. Over the first 20 minutes, the Crimson defence held the Redmen to 7-of-28 shooting (25.0 percent), while Harvard went 8-of-23 (0-for-6 from three) from the floor. McGill out-rebounded Harvard, 21-17, including 8-4 on the offensive glass.

The Crimson started hot after the break, hitting four of its first six shots to outscore the Redmen 13-3 over the first five minutes, taking a 38-25 lead. A three by McGill's Avery Cadogan narrowed the advantage to eight a minute later but Zena Edosomwan started a 9-0 Crimson spurt. During the rally, defence turned to easy offence and Harvard recorded two buckets on the break.

McGill scored the next seven points but Harvard immediately answered with a 10-1 rally to push ahead 59-40 at the under eight-minute mark media timeout. The spread was no closer than 16 the rest of the way, as Harvard cruised to victory.  

Harvard heads to Smithfield, Rhode Island to take on Bryant for its final non-conference tilt Monday, Jan. 16.

McGill, which is ranked ninth in Canada and leads the RSEQ conference with a 4-2 record, will resume regular season play this weekend with a home-and-home series against cross-town rival UQAM. The Redmen play at UQAM (3-3) on Friday the 13th in an 8 p.m. start, then have a return engagement at Love Competition Hall on Saturday at 6 p.m.