It's a game they'll play over and over in their minds for any weeks to come. Because if the Harvard men's basketball team finds itself out of first place in the Ivy League standings at any time it can kick itself.
And look back to February 4.
On the heels of one of the biggest victories of the year--a 79-71 win at Columbia Friday night that broke Harvard's 16-game losing streak on the road--the Crimson lost a last-second thriller at Cornell Saturday and, in the process, a chance to become the team to beat in the Ivies.
Instead, Cornell's 62-60 upset win vaulted the surprising Big Red into a first place tie with Brown and left Harvard one game behind with a 3-3 league mark.
In this year of Ivy mediocrity--one that now has the first and last place teams separated by only two games--Harvard's failure to break away from the pack could prove fatal by the season's end.
"We've said all along that the key to winning the Ivy title." Crimson Coach Frank McLaughlin explained, "is winning games on the road."
And in its 82nd year without an Ivy men's basketball title, the Harvard squad came with in seconds of its first weekend sweep in years on the road.
Off that momentous victory at Columbia, the Crimson ran into a Big Red squad that had won eight in a row at Barton Hall.
Before a Jam-packed crowd there, though, the Crimson looked as if it just might shut down the offense that has become the surprise of the league Harvard turned a 31-28 Cornell halftime lead into a tie midway through the second half.
But when Cornell's Len Pulser and Brad Bomba combined to put the Big Red up 62-5th with just three seconds left, it ended the Crimson's comebuck hopes. Harvard's bucket at the buzzer put the final at 62-60.
"We played well and accomplished what we wanted to," McLaughlin said. "Cornell just played exceptionally."
THE NOTEBOOK Wednesday's showdown with-Duke is sold out. Yale and Brown roll into town next week. Harvard shot III percent from the free throw line over the weekend, a mark which should be good enough to keep the Crimson number-one in the nation in that category.
Cornell, 62-60
At Ithaca, N. Y
CORNELL (62)--Bomba--1 19 Palmer 1-2-4 Banhum 4-0-8, Bajusz 8-1-17. Martin 5-2-12 Williams 0-0-0 Hedengren 0-0-0 Givens 1-0-2 Totals 28-6-62.
HARVARD (60)--Farry 7-2-12 Duncan 5-7-17 Carrabino 5-6-16; Smith 0-0-0 Webster 3-1-7; Plutnicki; 0-1-1 Trout 1-0-2 Wides 0-0-0 Totals 21-18-60.
Halftima C, 6-31-28
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