Momentum.

With three consecutive wins, the Harvard men's basketball team is getting its first taste of the big mo' in a long, long time.

The Crimson has come from the depths of the Division I cellar to being perched in the middle of the Ivy League pack, in a four-way tie for third place with a 3-3 conference record.

Two things have been at the core of the team's turnaround: team defense and dominant inside play.

After trailing Brown by three at halftime on Friday night, Harvard toughened up and forced the Bruins into shooting 35 percent from the field for the remainder of the game giving the Crimson a 75-71 victory.

Harvard was just as stingy on Saturday against Yale. The Crimson hounded the Elis into 42 percent shooting and 18 turnovers.

Harvard's aggressive man-to-man defense in both games produced 16 steals and four blocks on the weekend and, just as importantly, took pressure off the offense.

The Scoring Threats

Juniors Tyler Rullman and Peter Condakes, and senior captain Ron Mitchell accounted for 46 points against Brown and 62 gainst Yale. For his efforts, Rullman was rewarded with Ivy League Player-of-the-Week honors. The fact that Condakes could just have easily won the award only highlights the depth the Crimson now has down low.

The latest addition to the Crimson's inside game is freshman Arturo Llopis. The Spanish transfer student has seen quality minutes in his two appearances since regaining eligibility, and chipped in with 10 points and five boards in 18 minutes against the Bulldogs.

Leake Comes Through

May be the best development of the weekend was the poise and efficiency of point guard Jared Leake, who made the Ivy League Rookie-of-the-Week honor role.

Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan knows that Leake's play has been crucial. "Fortunately for us, he's coming on," Sullivan said. Indeed, Leake's numbers for the last three games are impressive: 30 points, 16 rebounds, 16 assists and 13 steals.

Around the Ancient Eight

In other Ivy action, Princeton (no surprise here) improved its league record to 6-0 with easy weekend wins over Columbia and Cornell. The Tigers now stand at 16-3 for the season, with all remaining games against Ivy foes.

Second place Dartmouth (4-2 Ivy) had a similar weekend to Harvard: Two home wins against Brown and Yale. Sophomore Gregg Frame leads the Big Green in both scoring (11.0 ppg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg). Ivy Rookie-of-the-Week Jamie Halligan totaled 26 points in the two victories.