A torrid comeback by the Crimson basketball team Saturday fizzled in the final 40 seconds of play and enabled a smooth Pennsylvania quintet to whip Harvard, 75 to 67.

The Crimson's offense was ineffective for most of the game--particularly when compared with Friday's brilliant victory over Princeton. But it was really the performance of the best two backcourt men in the Ivy League which throttled Harvard's bid for an upset.

Penn guards Jeff Neuman and Ray Carazo put on a dazzling display of basketball skill for the 1000 fans in the IAB--Carazo with his deadly 25 foot jump shots, Neuman with his phenomenal ball handling and lightning behind the back passes.

In the opening minutes of the game, Penn's run and shoot offense made the Crimson look ragged. After seven minutes the Quakers led 19 to 11, with eight of their points coming on fast breaks; Harvard had scored only four field goals.

Harvard's slowdown at the end of the first half was a bad omen. After the half-time break. Penn pulled away with ease with its fast breaks and outside shooting. Near the end of the third quarter the Quakers led 59 to 48; they began to stall and forced Harvard out of its zone and into a man-to-man defense.

Bombs on Target

With 6:20 left, the Red and Blue were still going strong, 65 to 56. The Crimson was unable to penetrate Penn's zone, but long bombs by Al Bornheimer, Bill Fegley, and McClung cut the Quakers' lead to 67-62 in the next 80 seconds.

Penn began to freeze the ball with a vengeance, and three minutes later the Crimson had moved only an eyelash closer, 68 to 64. But with 1:47 showing on the clock, Leo Scully bucketed a short shot and cannily drew a foul in the process; his three-point play made the score 68-67.

The Quakers continued to stall, but Sedlacek broke it up by fouling Penn's Joe Andrews. In a one-and-one situation the second-string center blew the shot, Harvard grabbed the rebound, and it appeared that the second miracle within 24 hours was about to transpire in the IAB.

Big Block

With 50 seconds left, the Crimson worked the ball into McClung, who was two feet from the basket, but Andrews knocked his shot out of bounds. Moments later Sedlacek missed on his patented jump shot.

Andrews snared the rebound and Penn went back into its stall. Sedlacek broke it up by fouling cold-shooting Stan Pawlak with 29 seconds to go.