After three straight losses and an 0-for-2 showing in the Beanpot, the ninth-ranked Harvard hockey team needed to find a spark.

Ryan Donato provided one, just in time.

Donato had a hat trick and the Crimson ended their three-game skid by posting a dominant 4-1 win over Union on Saturday night at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.

Donato broke the ice at 17:50 of the first period, pocketing his eighth goal of the season.

The Crimson (14-8-3, 10-5-3 ECAC) put it away in the second period, striking for a pair of late power-play goals. Sean Malone got the first at 16:49, with assists going to Clay Anderson and Tyler Moy.

Then Donato sealed it by tallying with five seconds left in the period. He finished his hat trick with an empty-netter with 39 seconds left in the game.

Merrimack 5, BC 5 — Jonathan Lashyn picked the right time to score his first goal. The junior defenseman scored with 55 seconds left and the Warriors (8-15-7, 2-9-7 Hockey East) earned a tie against the No. 3 Eagles (21-4-5, 12-1-5) in a back-and-forth contest in North Andover.

The tie dropped BC into second in Hockey East, a point behind Notre Dame.

Down 2-1, Merrimack got power-play goals from Mathieu Foget and Hampus Gustafsson 2:36 apart midway through the second period to go ahead. Ryan Fitzgerald scored his second of the game, also on the man advantage, at 15:54 to get BC even before Foget struck again 19 seconds later to give the Warriors a 4-3 lead after two.

Adam Gilmour (1:56) and Casey Fitzgerald (8:11) put BC back ahead in the third before Lashyn had the final say.

Northeastern 4, UMass 2 — Nolan Stevens scored twice, including the go-ahead goal at 13:48 of the second period, and the surging Huskies (12-13-5, 6-8-4) swept the weekend series from the Minutemen (8-19-4, 2-14-4). After struggling through a 13-game winless streak earlier in the season, NU has gone 10-1-2 in its last 13 games.

Providence 3, UConn 2 — John Gilmore scored twice and Ryan Tait scored what turned out to be the winner 7:29 into the third period to lift the No. 5 Friars (21-5-4, 12-3-3 Hockey East) past the host Huskies (9-17-4, 4-10-4).

UNH 2, Vermont 2 — Shane Eiserman tied it 5:18 into the third period and the Wildcats (10-15-5, 4-9-5 Hockey East) skated to an overtime tie with the Catamounts (12-16-3, 6-9-3) in Durham, N.H.

Notre Dame 5, Maine 1 — Jake Evans had a goal and two assists and the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish (18-5-7, 14-2-2 Hockey East) routed the Black Bears (7-19-6, 4-12-2) in South Bend, Ind.

Men’s basketball

BU 73, Loyola 65 — Eric Fanning scored 14 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, and the visiting Terriers topped the Greyhounds to extend their winning streak to six games.

John Papale and Kyle Foreman also finished with 14 points for BU (16-11, 9-5 Patriot). After Loyola (8-17, 7-7) cut its deficit to 63-60 on an Eric Laster jumper with 2:35 to go, Papale made two free throws and Fanning made a jumper on back-to-back possessions to put the Greyhounds away.

Andre Walker scored 16 points to lead Loyola (8-17, 7-7), who were held to just 32.4 percent shooting and 2 of 18 from behind the arc.

Northeastern 70, Drexel 60 — David Walker scored 21 points with five 3-pointers and five assists and the Huskies (14-13, 6-8 Colonial) handed the visiting Dragons (3-22, 1-13) their 10th straight loss.

Quincy Ford scored 16 points, surpassing the 1,500 mark in his career, and Jeremy Miller added 10 for NU.

NU shot 52 percent from the field, made 11 of 21 3-pointers, and never trailed.

Women’s basketball

UMass 69, St. Bonaventure 60 — Ciera Dillard scored 20 points and the host Minutewomen (7-17, 1-11) erased a 10-point third-quarter deficit to upset the Bonnies (20-5, 9-3), earning their first Atlantic 10 win of the season.

Women’s hockey

BU 6, UNH 4 — Rebecca Russo and Rebecca Leslie each had two goals and an assist and the host Terriers (18-11-2, 15-4-2 Hockey East) erupted for five-third period goals to knock off the Wildcats (10-20-1, 7-14-0).

Harvard 3, Union 0 — Sydney Daniels had a hand in all three goals, scoring twice, and the visiting Crimson (15-9-3, 11-6-3 ECAC) blanked the Dutchwomen (0-26-6, 0-17-3).

Providence 75, Georgetown 72 — Rodney Bullock had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the No. 20 Friars (19-7, 7-6 Big East) held off a furious rally to beat the visiting Hoyas (14-12, 7-6) and end a three-game skid.

‘‘This just shows the resilience of our team and how we come back after a loss,’’ Bullock said. ‘‘Hitting shots like I did, it gives me even more confidence to be a great player.’’

Georgetown had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but L.J. Peak’s 3-point attempt was blocked by Bullock.

‘‘Our goal is to try and be a tournament team and this helps us get closer to that,’’ Providence coach Ed Cooley said. ‘‘I think the magic number for Big East is nine or 10 wins. That’s how competitive our league is.’’

The Hoyas cut what had been a 26-point first-half deficit all the way down to a point with just over a minute to play.

The Friars responded by putting the ball in the hands of Dunn and Bentil, and they accounted for 12 of Providence’s final 14 points to help stave off Georgetown’s comeback efforts.

Duke 63, Virginia 62 — Grayson Allen banked in a shot at the buzzer, and the host Blue Devils (19-6, 8-4 ACC) upset the No. 7 Cavaliers (20-5, 9-4).

Malcolm Brogdon had 18 points for Virginia and his reverse flip layup with 9.9 seconds left put the Cavaliers up, 62-61.

Freshman Brandon Ingram scored 25 points while Allen finished with 15 for Duke, which won its fourth straight and kept the Cavaliers winless at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995.

Marcus Derrickson led the Hoyas with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Kansas 76, Oklahoma 72 — Devonte’ Graham scored a career-high 27 points and did a tenacious job defending Buddy Hield to help the No. 6 Jayhawks defeat the No. 3 Sooners in Norman, Okla.

Graham made 6 of 9 3-point attempts for Kansas (21-4, 9-3 Big 12), which swept the regular-season series.

It was Kansas’ fifth straight win, and it snapped Oklahoma’s 19-game home winning streak.

Oklahoma matched a season-low by shooting 33.3 percent from the field. The Sooners, who entered the game leading the nation in 3-point percentage, made just 10 of 32 from beyond the arc.

Hield, the nation’s No. 2 scorer, was held without a field goal in the first half on 0-for-6 shooting, but he made all six free throws.