PHILADELPHIA--Remember the name Perry Bromwell?

Harvard basketball fans certainly should. They also remember the date February 22, 1985--when one Perry Bromwell nailed an 18-ft. Jump shot with just four second remaining to lift the Penn Quakers to a 53-51 victory over the Crimson.

Saturday night here at the Palestra, Bromwell saved his best for Harvard once again, pouring in a career-high 32 points before exiting to a rousing standing ovation from the hometown crowd with 2:26 to go and the Quakers comfortably ahead by 20 points.

At the time of Bromwell's heroics two years ago, Harvard was as close as it had ever come to winning an Ivy League title.

The cagers had entered the contest at 6-2 in the Ivies and had achieved their first-ever weekend road sweep of Penn and Princeton earlier in the season. A second win over the 6-1 Quakers would have put the Crimson in the driver's seat the rest of the way.

Ironically, Bromwell had missed his first six shots of the second half; all it took was his seventh, however, to send the Crimson reeling down the Ancient Eight ladder.

After Penn, Harvard managed but one win in its five remaining games and finished tied for fourth place in the Ivies.

This year, the status of the Harvard men's basketball team is quite different from what it was in 1985.

After opening its Ivy campaign with a weekend sweep of Penn and Princeton at Briggs Athletic Center, the Crimson has struggled to six losses in its last seven league outings, dropping the squad into a sixth-place tie in the standings.

Two years ago, Bromwell was the most unlikely of heroes. The 6-ft. 2-in sophomore transfer from Manhattan College (where he collected Metro Conference Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman) did not start the game because of disciplinary reasons.

And then he missed those first six shots of the second half. Why did Penn go to its coldest shooter with the game--and control of the Ivy League--on the line?

Bromwell's college numbers provide the answer. This year, the Philadelphia native looks to become only the 12th player in Ivy League history to garner first-team All-Ivy honors three years in a row.

The slick guard's 22 points per Ivy contest lead the league, and his performance Saturday night was the finest Harvard has seen all year long.

Others--such as Duke's Danny Ferry and Martin Nessley and Penn's Bruce Lefkowitz--have impressed because they were bigger, but Bromwell impressed because he was better.

Every one of Bromwell's 14 field goals Saturday night was unique: a pull-up, foul-line jumper here, a thunderous fast-break slam dunk there, a 24-ft. three-pointer there.