Like they used to say in Brooklyn, wait `til next year.

As it has been every year since the inaugural Ivy League season in 1957, the Harvard men's basketball team was eliminated from title contention and post-season play as it split a weekend series with Cornell (9-13, 4-6 Ivy) and Columbia (8-14, 3-7) and maintained a tie for fourth place.

The Crimson (10-12, 4-6) got 41 points from sophomore forward Dan Clemente and a pair of double-doubles from senior center Bill Ewing, who was starting in place of captain Paul Fisher, lost for the season to mononucleosis. COLUMBIA  63 HARVARD  68 CORNELL  74 HARVARD  64

Harvard has not been above .500 since a Dec. 29 win over Santa Clara.

Cornell 74, Harvard 64

Apparently torrid shooting from Clemente--who scored 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting--and 11 assists with only one turnover from senior point guard Tim Hill aren't enough for a Crimson victory.

Harvard was unable to complete a season sweep of Cornell Saturday night losing 74-64 at Lavietes Pavilion.

With the score tied 57-57 with five minutes to play, sophomore swingman Ray Mercedes and freshman point guard Wallace Prather led the Big Red on a 17-7 run to finish out the game, preventing Harvard from reaching the .500 mark in Ivy League play.

"I think there were basically two things that were the key to the game," said Har- vard Coach Frank Sullivan. "First, we playedtentative and simply bad offense in criticalsituations, and second we just couldn't get stopswhen we needed them."

Mercedes scored 17 of his 20 points in thesecond half, while Prather scored 20 in the game,hitting 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch forCornell.

But Mercedes and Prather were only part of thestory for the Big Red.

Led by its frontline trio of senior centerJeffrion Aubry and junior forwards Keirian Brownand Derek Kruse, Cornell dominated the paint,hurting the Crimson all night from inside.

The absence of the 6'8 Fisher--the Crimson'sleading rebounder--once again proved to be afactor in defending the opposition's big men. TheBig Red outrebounded Harvard 43-23, including 14offensive boards.

"We knew Mercedes was going to get his points,but they got too many good chances into the post,"Sullivan said. "They're very big and tough, andthey force you to collapse inside, making it verytough to box out."

Brown--Cornell's 6'6 power forward--had aterrific night against Harvard, scoring 18 pointson 9-of-13 shooting. He also added 10 boards (fouroffensive), five assists and two blocks.

Meanwhile, the 6'11 Aubry was a presence in thekey all evening. Coming off the bench, Aubryscored nine points, grabbed 11 boards (sixoffensive) and blocked four shots, as he helpedset the tone for the game.