Captain Bob Allen hit for five clutch points in overtime to life the Crimson to gutsy, if unartistic, we'll-take-'em-any-way-we-can-get-'em, 82-77 truimph over Cornell last night at the IAB.

Harvard reached the five-minute extra period mostly at the largess of the Big Red's Larry Oeding, who chose to miss the second of two free throws with two seconds remaining in regulation time.

The cagers had squirmed into the lead for the first time of the second half with just 18 seconds to go, when guard Robert Taylor calmly sank both halves of a one-and-one to give Harvard a 69-68 advantage.

The victory saves Harvard from the danger of a last place Ivy League finish; the Crimson scoots to a fifth place 3-5 record in the league and 8-12 overall, and 1-8 Ivy, good for a stranglehold on last place.

And given the incompetence of the Big Red, the overtime victory hardly merits an all-night celebration. Harvard's defense moved slowly, if at all, in the first half, leading to a 37-34 Cornell advantage at the intermission.

The lone bright spot came in the form of junior forward Tom Mannix, whose shooting touch returned after a one-day sabbatical against St. Anselmss. He hit for 17 points in the first half on 7-12 shooting and finished the evening as the game's leading scorer with 24 points.

The beginning of the second half meant a four-minute vacaction for the entire Harvard team and Cornell's biggest lead of the night, 48-41, with 13:03 to go in the game.

A time-out and Don Fleming's three-point play moved the cagers back into contention, and Mark Harris's lay-up off a smashing Calvin Dixon assist lifted the Crimson to a tie score just before the three-quarter mark of the game.

The happiest discovery of the past two uninspired victories has been Allen's shooting touch. He went six-for-nine from the floor last night, with most of his baskets in key situations, and finished with 16 points, third best on the team, behind Mannix and Fleming with 17.

While Allen may shoot too little, his teammates hardly share the same affliction. Fleming had his troubles once again, going 6-14 on field goals, and Dixon, whose style has seemed to be cramped of late, was shut out in four attempts.

Harris did the kind of work he has feasted on all season--not the kind that shows in the scorebook--the kind that wins games.

In tonight's game (IAB, 8 p.m.) Columbia will probably not offer the Crimson the luxury of a victory on a mediocre performance. No love lost today: in the Lions's (4-4 Ivy) 85-63 victory against the Crimson in New York, the home bench acted mighty uncharitably and coach Frank McLaughlin has vowed to beat those doggone creeps (not his exact words by any means).