Three quarters of mediocre basketball by the Harvard Crimson built a 12-point second-half lead over the inept Big Red of Cornell, but a hard-nosed and well-played final five minutes on the part of both sides resulted in a thrilling finish--and a Harvard loss, 78-76.

Cornell, after trailing Harvard since the first minute, pulled even, 69-69, with 2:30 remaining on a jumper by Mike Davis, the Cornell high scorer who stung the Crimson with 20 points. The key to the Cornell comeback was not Davis's nor any other Cornell man's heroics but the sharp eyes (or imaginations) of the referees, who sent both Glenn Fine and Brian Banks to the bench with five fouls before the four-minute mark. Harvard's game depends on this pair of stars and it missed them dearly down the stretch.

Davis popped again to put Cornell ahead, 71-69, and, after a Harvard turnover, stalled away a minute and a half until only one minute remained on the clock. It looked as though the Crimson would have to foul to get the ball back but Harvard's Frank Konstantynowicz stepped in front of Cornell's captain, Cedric Carter, and took a thunderous (and dramatic) tongue-in-cheek fall to draw a charging foul and give Harvard one last gasp.

In the ensuing play, Bob Hooft, high scorer with 21 points, worked himself free underneath, and Konstantynowicz fired the pass, but the ball slipped through Hooftie's fingers. And things looked even grimmer after both Davis and Carter sank a pair of free throws to put the score at 75-69 with 40 seconds left.

But Cyrus Booker (15 points) scored to make it 75-71 and Konstantynowicz did his falling act again on the inbounds play and was awarded a trip to the free-throw line for his effort. He canned two to bring the Crimson within two with 20 seconds left.

Again Cornell seemingly sewed the ballgame up as Pete Call was fouled and sank a free throw to make it 76-73. And again Harvard had a hero left; Bob Allen drove the lane, hoping for a three-point play, and Cornell obliged, fouling him as he sank his lay-up. The fans went wild when Allen sunk the free throw to tie the score with ten seconds remaining.

Well, there is no joy in Mudville. Cornell's Charlie Brown took a long downcourt pass and canned a three-foot hook shot, his third such shot in the last five minutes, to give the lead and the game to the Ithacans.

Cornell's first-half performance gave no inkling of the game's eventual outcome; it had only scored 24 points after 17 minutes and could only total 31 for the entire half thanks to a dismal .385 shooting percentage and some tough Harvard defense. Harvard didn't play much better offensively, tallying only 39 points for the half. Worse was the fact that Banks and Fine had drawn three fouls apiece. Coach Frank McLaughlin was forced to keep Banks, the game's top rebounder with ten, and Fine, the team's playmaker, languishing on the bench.

Fine drew his fourth foul immediately at the open of the second half and was gone at the 11-minute mark; Banks was gone with five minutes to go. Despite strong second-half efforts by Hooft and Booker and Allen's last-second heroics, without Banks and Fine Harvard could neither stop Davis, who scored 14 in the second half, nor score frequently enough to stay ahead.

The Harvard squad, flying high after its victory over Penn last week went into this game gunning for a shot at second place. The loss knocked it out of contention and made one point painfully clear--to compete in the Ivy league next year it will have to come up with some depth. Banks and Fine will be gone next year and McLaughlin will be on his own.