"Shooting poorly at the free throw line was part of the problem," Roby said. "If we had connected on some of those one-and-ones, we wouldn't have had such a big hole to climb out of, and the entire style of the game would have changed.

One of the few highlights for the Crimson in the Columbia game was the surprisingly strong play of sophomore Fred Schernecker.

Averaging only 3.3 points per game, Schernecker came off the bench in the second half to net 10 points in 12 minutes of play, including two three-point shots. His six rebounds led the Crimson in that department.

Red-Faced

In the Cornell game, John Bajusz came off the bench for the Big Red to lead all scorers with 24 points, including 12 from the free throw line and 17 in the second half.

Sophomore Mike Gielen led the Crimson in scoring with 13 points. Arne Duncan and Phillips finished with 12 points apiece.

Harvard again allowed itself to fall behind early, but a key mental mistake by the Crimson down the stretch assured the weekend sweep.

The cagers trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and were outscored by a 16-3 margin in the first six minutes of the second half to fall behind, 54-32, with 14:34 left in the game.

Harvard made a gallant comeback effort, going on a 21-6 tear to reduce the Cornell lead to seven points, 60-53, with 7:48 left.

The lead was still seven with only 2:31 to play, 70-63, when Dean Kartsonas connected on a layup underneath to put the Big Red up by nine.

Never Say Die

But the Crimson refused to quit, and four straight free throws by Dodson and Duncan, followed by a short bucket by Gielen, brought Harvard to within three, 72-69, with 1:08 left in the contest.

The Crimson got the ball back with 45 seconds left on a traveling violation, but Schernecker was whistled for an offensive foul underneath, sending John Bajusz to the line at the other end.

Bajusz missed the front end, and Webster was fouled on the rebound, sending the senior guard to the line with only 20 seconds remaining. Webster hit both shots, and a lead that was once 22 points was cut to one, 72-71.

Phillips intentionally fouled Bajusz on the inbounds pass, and Bajusz hit both free throws to make the margin three again, 74-71. Harvard advanced the ball to mid-court, where it called its final time-out with 18 seconds left to set-up a game-tying three-point attempt.

But it never got the chance. A strong defensive effort by the Big Red prevented Webster from inbounding the ball, who then called time out to avoid a five-second violation.

In doing so, Webster collected an automatic technical foul for calling for a time out with none remaining.

Cornell hit both free throws in the two-shot technical, as well as both ends of a one-and-one two seconds later to ice the game.

"That's my fault," Roby said afterward. "It was a terrible play. I'll take sole responsibility for it. Not only was it terrible but it was inappropriate."

The Crimson was much more effective from the charity stripe against Columbia, hitting 23 of 30 attempts, including 14-for-16 in the second half.