When the Harvard men's basketball team takes to the floor against Navy Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion, the Crimson will be faced with a tall order.

A 6'8 order, as a matter of fact.

That is the height of Midshipmen senior center Sitapha Savane, who led the Patriot League in rebounding and field goal percentage one year ago, and has shown little sign of slowing down so far this season.

In his last two games, Savane has notched a combined 40 points, 12 rebounds, and an astounding 11 blocks. He is also shooting better than 55 percent over that stretch.

Come Saturday, the Crimson (3-1) will attempt to neutralize Savane with 6'8 junior Tim Coleman, who is averaging 14 points through the last three games, and possibly 6'8 freshman Onnie Mayshak, who started at center last Tuesday against Marist and scored 6 points. But while Mayshak and Coleman may be able to match Savane size-wise, they will face a significant challenge trying score on him inside and beat him to the ball off the glass.

Savane anchors a Navy team that has shot 45.3 percent from the field over its first five games while holding its opponents to a remarkably low 39.6 percent. Additionally, the Midshipmen (2-3) are averaging better than 40 rebounds a game.

Robert Reeder, a 6'7, 240-pound power forward, and Chris Williams, a 6'4, 210-pound small forward, lead the team with an average of 5.7 boards per contest apiece. Freshman Scott Long, a 6'6 forward, is also coming off an 8-point, 6-rebound performance in just 16 minutes of action against Coast Guard on Monday.

Harvard will clearly face an uphill struggle in confronting the bigger, stronger Navy frontcourt. Rebounding especially has been a problem for Harvard of late. In last Tuesday's 87-82 loss to Marist, Harvard gave up too many second-chance opportunities on the defensive end, while failing to grab enough offensive boards of its own. Against Navy, the team will either have to find a way to box out Reeder and Williams, or else improve its shooting from the floor.