Still, the Crimson refuses to blame a lackluster shooting performance on reading period anxiety and exam week hell.

In fact, Harvard had a productive week of intense practice that followed a disappointing league opening weekend.

The team focused on improving rebounding and defensive skills, and in this respect, the week proved to be a success.

Harvard is pleased that it has finally launched the powerful defensive and rebounding elements its game lacked--a problem that placed the team eighth in the Ancient Eight in scoring defense. Honing the team's shooting skills is a minor feat in comparison.

"We've definitely made defense and rebounding the focus in practice the past week or two," Crisera said, "But shooting won't be anything for us to worry about.

"Putting the ball into the basket is the easiest thing to fix with practice," the forward starter said.

To be sure, Harvard has plenty of time for shooting drills. The Crimson has about two weeks until its next non-league contest (January 29 at Central Connecticut State), and three weeks until it resumes Ivy play at Yale on February 4.

When Harvard finds a way to balance its shooting capabilities with its newly found defensive intensity, the team could re-emerge as a power in the league. Remember this: Harvard has 11 games left on its Ivy schedule.

"Exams have traditionally interfered with our rhythm," Delaney Smith said. "But this year, it could be our time to re-group and re-focus."

DARTMOUTH, 57-44 at Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth  27  30  -  57 Harvard  19  25  -  44

DARTMOUTH: Stamp 5-10 1-2 11; Jones 0-10 0-0 0; Annis 4-10 1-3 9; Pariseau 1-4 0-0 2; Webeck 1-11 0-0 2; Samuelson 0-2 0-0 0; Gilmore 5-6 3-5 13; Marple 1-3 0-0 2; Lawrence 5-12 1-5 11; Stucker 3-5 1-2 7. Totals 25-73 7-17 57.

HARVARD: Butler 3-13 2-4 8; Reinhard 2-5 0-0 5; Davis 0-1 2-4 2; Phillips 0-5 0-0 0; Gelman 2-8 2-2 6; Proudfit 3-13 0-0 6; Frey 3-9 2-2 11; Crisera 3-9 0-2 6; Gettelman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-64 8-14 44.