Running up a 32-10 lead midway through the first half against Yale in New Haven Saturday night, the Harvard basketball team held on for the rest of the game to top the Elis, 93-87, and finish its best Ivy, League season ever.

With an Ivy record of 11-3, the Crimson finished second in the League standings for the first time in history. The squad also boosted its overall mark to 16-10; only three Harvard teams in the past 30 years have had better win-loss records.

Playing the way it did against Brown on Friday, the Crimson proved itself the superior team early against Yale, but then lost momentum and had to stave off repeated Eli comeback attempts.

At half-time, Yale had climbed back within 11 points, 50-39. and in the early minutes of the second half kept peeking away at Harvard's lead. With four minutes left, the Crimson led by only one point.

Then James Brown, who scored 22 points, tallied a field goal, and captain Dale Dover, who had 21 points for the game, worked for a lay-up to put the contest back out of Yale's reach.

Sophomore Floyd Lewis, who established a new season rebounding mark, paced the Crimson with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

"What we lacked in the Yale game, and it's something we've lacked for most of the season, is a killer instinct," Dover said yesterday. "When we build up a big lead, we shouldn't let them off the hook. And that's what we did against Yale," he explained.

More National Invitational Tournament bids will be announced today, and according to Harvard head coach Bob Harrison, the Crimson should find out today whether or not it will be invited.

"Our 16-10 record is not as good as I'd like it to be," Harrison said yesterday. "So our chances are small, but they're still there," he said.

The Harvard freshman basketball team completed its season this weekend on a disappointing note, losing to Brown, 71-64, on Friday, and to Yale, 81-77, on Saturday. The team's record dropped to 11-7 for the season.