It was the Clash of the Titans.

After more than seven hours and some 150 games, the Harvard men's tennis team defeated arch-rival Princeton, 5-2, to capture sole possesion of both the Ivy League and EITA crowns.

Both teams entered the Palmer-Dixon tennis courts expecting a great match. Princeton had a chance to tie Harvard for the two titles and possibly secure a bid to the upcoming NCAA Championships later this month.

But the trip to Athens, Ga., for an appearance in the national tourney now belongs to the Crimson netmen.

The tennis duel began at 2 p.m. and didn't end until 9 p.m. What happened in between was "exceptional," Harvard Coach Dave Fish said. "The level of tennis was really superb."

The top two Crimson players ran into some fierce Tigers. Larry Scott, Harvard's first racquet, faced a pumped up John Bartos. Scott lost his serve in the opening game, but recovered and broke back in the fourth and eighth games.

But Bartos would not fall without a last try. Urging himself on with chants of "refuse to lose," he fought back to capture the first set, winning in a 7-5 tie-breaker.

Scott was never really able to recover, dropping the second set, 6-3.

Tiger netman Tim Main used a strong arsenal of passing shots to knock off Crimson Captain Peter Palandjian at second singles, 6-2, 6-3, giving Princeton a quick 2-0 advantage.

Bill Stanley and Arkie Engle--the Crimson's third and fourth racquets respectively--evened the match at two each by posting dramatic victories.

First, Stanley overcame the lashing serves and grounstrokes of 6-ft., 5-in. Tiger counterpart Mark Ozer.

"I was down a set point at 5-3, then I began to hit the ball harder and deeper," the 5-ft., 8-in. Stanley said. "I also got a few lucky breaks."

Stanley prevailed in the first set, 7-5. The second set saw the entrance of an umpire--not because anyone was cheating, butbecause Ozer's serve was becoming impossible tocall. It was simply too fast. Stanley completedthe two-hour match with a 6-4 victory in thesecond set.

Then, after dropping the first set, 6-3, Engleforced Princeton's Dave Gerken into a third set bywinning the second, 7-6 (10-8). The Harvard netmanprevailed, 7-6 (7-4), in the third and decisiveset.

"Arkie was not in the match until [Gerken] wasserving for the match," Fish said. "At thechange-over, I told him `this is how you become ahero."' That may sound easy, but coming back fromfour match points is no easy task.