WORCESTER--At this rate, it's going to be a prolific season for Dan Clemente.

The junior forward tied his career high last night, scoring 32 as the Harvard men's basketball team used an 18-9 second-half run to outlast Holy Cross 80-69 before 1,343 at the Hart Center.

Clemente, who shot 12-of-26 from the floor and added six rebounds, got strong supporting performances from sophomore point guard Drew Gellert and junior center Tim Coleman, both of whom scored 14.

Clemente started slowly, hitting just one of his first six attempts from three-point range, but finished 6-of-15 from behind the arc. He has now made a three-pointer in 20 consecutive games, a Harvard record.

Clemente, Gellert and Coleman were the offensive keys to the decisive run that gave the Crimson (2-0) a 70-61 lead with just under three minutes to play, an advantage the Crusaders (1-1) could not best.

With the score 52-52 with 7:49 to play, Clemente started the run when freshman point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman, who scored eight points and added four assists, fed him an inbounds pass from under the basket, which Clemente banked off the glass, drawing a foul from Holy Cross's Mark Jerz.

Prasse-Freeman and Clemente hooked up for a deuce on exactly the same inbounds play in the first half.

Clemente made the free throw to give Harvard a 55-52 lead, and a pair of nice low-post combinations by Coleman helped extend the edge to 59-53. Coleman, who has not started either of the Crimson's first two games this season, showed vastly improved mobility in the paint, hitting 5-of-10 shots while giving up several inches to the Crusaders' 7'1 center Josh Sankes.