NEW YORK CITY--Like the Soviet Olympic basketball team in its 1972 final game against the U.S.A., the Columbia Lions last night found themselves in desperate need of two points with three seconds left on the clock. Unlike the Russians, who got their two points and triumphed in the only game the United Sates has ever lost in Olympic hoop, the Lions didn't get theirs last night, losing to the Crimson here, 65-63.

The Crimson, struggling most of the second half, gained possession of the ball with 1:10 left, with the score tied at 63-all. Looking for the last shot, Harvard seemed unable to get off any shot at all, until Calvin Dixon desperately drove for the hoop with five seconds left.

He didn't manage a shot, but took a foul, and then calmly converted two free throws to put Harvard up by the final two-point margin. The last second Chris Boyle 35-ft. attempt went wide, and the Crimson had upped its record to 16-7 overall, 6-2 in the Ivy League, maintaining its third place standing.

The crucial difference last night was at the foul line, with the Crimson converting a phenomenal 23 of 25 attempts (92 per cent), while Columbia made good on only seven of 16. Don Fleming went five for five from the line and seven for nine from the field to check in as the game's high scorer with 19 points. Doc Joe Carrabino added 18 points for the Crimson.

Harvard really couldn't have hoped to come out of the first half in any better shape than their 41-34 lead at intermission. Unable to score for the first three minutes of the contest, falling behind, 6-0, before Mark Harris knocked home a two-pointer 2:50 into the game, the Crimson managed to stay close despite distressingly sloppy play.

With McLaughlin giving a command, foot-stomping performance, the Crimson watched the seven point halftime margin slip away in the opening minutes of the second half, with the Lions going ahead, 50-49, on a Vernon Outlaw bank shot with 13:20 left in the game.

The Lions threatened to run away with the game, hoping to avenge an earlier 61-58 loss to the Crimson at the IAB. But the fast break pace controlled both teams, with neither managing to put together a string of points.

Columbia managed to go up by four, 60-56, and when Crimson forward Monroe Trout fouled out moments later, things looked bleak indeed for the Crimson.

The Lions cooperated, however, when big guns Outlaw and Westenburg fouled out in quick succession thereafter.

Carrabino hit four straight free throws to tie the score at 60 with about five seconds left and then added a three-point play to put Harvard up by three, 63-60. Columbia then tied it up on a Kurt Mahoney back court layup, setting up Dixon's last minute heroics.