BOSTON (AP) Harvard's Tommy Amaker still feels the influence that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski provided. It's helped lead him through a successful coaching career.

Amaker became the winningest coach in Harvard history on Wednesday night when Chris Lewis scored a season-high 22 points and Seth Towns had 18 to lead the Crimson to a 74-66 road victory over local rival Boston College.

It was Amaker's 179th win in his 10th season, moving him ahead of his predecessor, Frank Sullivan (178-245), who was the coach from 1991-2007.

''I'll communicate with coach for sure,'' Amaker said. ''He has so many different guys that he likes to keep track of. I don't want to be a burden in any way, but obviously his influence has been paramount. It's been as big as it comes for me.

''I've always thought of him as an amazing teacher, leader. I've always tried emulate some of the things he's taught through the years.''

A star guard with the Blue Devils from 1983-87, the 52-year-old Amaker felt he could take Harvard to a successful level that's led to five Ivy League titles in the past six seasons.

''We always thought if we could build our basketball program to go along with the things that happen at Harvard, we would feel good about ourselves, and we've done that,'' he said.

It was the third straight victory for Harvard (4-4).

Jerome Robinson led Boston College (4-4) with 25 points. A.J. Turner scored 13.

The Crimson looked dedicated to driving to the basket on most possessions from the start, collecting a number of easy looks when they shot near 60 percent in the opening minutes. It triggered a 13-2 spree that helped them open a 23-10 lead.

''The last couple of games I was encouraged of what we were doing defensively, but we took a step back,'' BC coach Jim Christian said. ''We'd played seven games. These guys have played a lot of minutes - bad defense is bad defense.''

The Crimson pushed their advantage to 39-21 after Bryce Aiken's driving basket capped a 6-0 spurt.

The Eagles trailed by 19 points with just under 10 minutes to play, but made a late charge, closing the deficit to 69-60 on Robinson's 3-pointer from the left corner.

Both teams then went nearly three minutes without a basket before Harvard closed it out.

BIG PICTURE

Harvard: The Crimson seemed to have figured out what type of team they have become after opening the season 1-3. They showed balance in a two-night span when they beat Northeastern on Tuesday and Boston College. On Tuesday, they scored only 18 points in the paint and they had 20 at halftime against the Eagles, finishing with 34.

''We're constantly trying to preach that we set the tone and be the aggressor early,'' Amaker said. ''I just thought they responded very well and made the necessary plays.''

Boston College: The Eagles need to find some more consistent scoring to go along with Robinson. The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard entered the game second in the Atlantic Coast Conference, averaging 20.1 per game.

REFLECTION

''I'm very proud of that,'' Amaker said of the milestone. ''I'm proud of our program and our team.''

PERFECT TEST

The Crimson looked at playing consecutive nights as a warm up to how things will be in conference play, when schools mostly compete on Fridays and Saturdays.

''We approached these two back-to-back games how we'd see Ivy League play,'' said point guard Siyani Chambers, who had 11 assists. ''We're trying to figure out who we are.''

SERIES

BC leads the all-time series 34-16 and had won the last two meetings after losing six straight.

The two schools first met in the 1905-06 season when Harvard won 42-6.

UP NEXT

Harvard: At Houston of the American Athletic Conference on Friday.

Boston College: Hosts Hartford from the America East Conference Friday.

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