DURHAM, N.H.--Harvard men's basketball first-year Coach Pete Roby sat in the bowels of the University of New Hampshire's Lundholm Gym Saturday evening, sipping a Coke and reflecting on the three-point overtime contest his squad had just dropped.

Wildcat Coach Gerry Friel, who in his 17 years at UNH has piled up more wins--and losses--than any other coach in the program's history, approached Roby.

For Roby, the game was his third career loss. For Friel, it was his 166th career win.

"I guess you've been through a lot of those," Roby said to the other coach.

But probably few as rivoting as the contest which transpired in front of 1175 fans at cozy Lundholm.

The hosts dominated most of regulation time, but Crimson freshman Neil Phillips sent the game into overtime by sinking the rebound of a Keith Webster miss.

In OT, Harvard got off to a quick start, building a five point lead with two minutes left on the clock.

But New Hampshire, spurred by a key offensive rebound bucket by forward Andy Johnston, battled back to cut the Crimson lead to one point with 42 seconds remaining.

With the 45-second shot clock no longer a factor, the cagers attemped to run out the clock, but speedy Wildcat guard Rodney Johnson stole an errant pass near midcourt and drove for an uncontested lay-up to give his team its first lead of over-time.

Harvard pushed the ball upcourt immediately, but after a Pat Smith pass went awry, New Hampshire sunk two free throws to seal the win.

"I don't want my guys to be front-runners," Roby said. "I want them to face adversity and then rise above it."

If that is Roby's formula for success, the cagers seem destined for greatness.

The loss was the Crimson's third in its first four games this year. Over the three defeats, Harvard has been outscored by a total of 12 points.

"I'm not so concerned with wins and losses," a nonetheless disappointed Roby said, "as in how close we come to playing at our potential as a team.

"You can't ask any more of our guys, both in effort and execution," he added.