"We played very poorly in the first half," McLaughlin said. "It would have been a shame to have ended it that way."
Especially if Princeton and Cornell had lost.
So when the scores trickled in the Cornell was losing big and Princeton was winning small. Harvard quickly asserted itself, pulling small. Harvard quickly asserted itself, pulling away behind Joe Carrabino's game-high 28 points and Webster's 18. Columbia never got within seven after just five minutes remained.
"We knew the chances of both (Cornell and Princeton) losing were a longshot," sophomore guard Pat Smith said. "But you never know. We just gave it our best."
Which included a new NCAA foul-shooting record. The Crimson hit 34 of 39 against the Lions to finish the season with an .822 mark from the line.
"That's something we can all be proud of," Plutnicki said. "That should take a long time to break."
And as news made it final-Princeton had won to officially end Harvard's season-Plutinicki thought back to the dunk.
"It's the perfect way for a basketball player to end his career," he said.
THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard finished the season with a 15-11 overall record, only its second winning in 11 years. The Crimson's only other second-place finish in Ivy action came in the 1970-71 season, when the cagers compiled an 11-3 mark...Four cagers entered the scoring book in double digits Saturday night. Arne Duncan with 15. Carrabino with 28, Bob Ferry with 10 and Webster with 18...When final individual free throw stats are released later this week. Carrabino should probably finish second in the nation and Ferry third...Carrabino's almost a shoo-in for All-Ivy first team honors and a leading candidate for Ivy Player of the Year...In the second half alone, Carrabino grabbed 13 rebounds, a career high, but it was Ferry who came down with most of the clutch grabs off the boards.
At Briggs Athletic Center
HARVARD (88)-Ken Plutnicki 3-2-8; Arne Duncan 5-5-15; Joe Carrabino 8-12-28; Pat Smith 2-5-9; Bob Ferry 4-2-10; keith Webster 5-8-18; Greg Wildes 0-0-0. Totals 27-34-88; Fouled out-Ferry.
COLUMBIA (77)-Mark Lay 2-0-4; Carl Scholz 3-0-6; George Meikle 5-0-10; Dale Smith 1-1-3; Mark Settles 10-0-20; Chip Adams 3-0-6; Sean Couch 6-2-14; Todd Williams 3-0-6; Paul Lee 0-0-0; Tom Gwydir 3-2-8; Ron petrunoff 0-0-0; Mark Murphy 0-0-0. Totals 36-5-77; Fouled out; none.
Halftime, 35-35.
Att: 1100. *Denotes Champion Saturday's Results HARVARD 88, Columbia 77 Princeton 65, Brown 57 Dartmouth 82, Cornell 66 Pennsylvania 63, Yale 60