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- 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. 6'9 senior center Bill Ewing did an admirablejob against the Cornell big men--who have made ahabit controlling the paint against its Ivy Leagueopponents--collecting his second consecutivedouble-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Butit was not enough for Harvard, as Cornell'ssuperior size and depth wore the Crimson down. "Fisher has some big shoes to step into," Ewingsaid. "You take away our best rebounder and I'mjust trying to come in and do the dirtywork--defense and rebounding. You can't becompetitive if you lose nine rebounds a game,which is what he gave us." For Harvard, Clemente came out smoking, hittingon 5-of-8 shots, including 3-of-4 from behind thearc, for 15 points before the intermission. Allthis came in just 13 minutes of action, asClemente ran into some foul trouble, picking uphis second just 10 minutes into the game. Helping to carry the load offensively for theCrimson was senior shooting guard Mike Beam. Hewas flawless in the first half, hitting all threeof his shots, including two from distance, andboth of his free throws, for 10 points at thebreak. Meanwhile Hill had a hot-and-cold evening. Atthe half the Crimson floor leader had dished outsix assists with zero turnovers, yet had hit ononly 1-of-6 from the field for two points. Behind the play of this threesome, Harvardfinally took some control of the game, fightingfor a 34-29 lead with under a minute to play. Butan Aubry free throw and a heave from three-pointland by Prather at the buzzer that found nothingbut net cut the Crimson lead to 34-33 at the half. Prather--one of the better rookies in theleague--was effective in the first half, hittingall four of his shots from the field, includingtwo treys for 11 points. Brown had 10 points forCornell at the break, while Aubry added five. After hitting on only 1-of-7 shots for threepoints in the first half, Mercedes started to heatup in the second. After the break, he drained6-of-8 from the floor for 17 points. Clemente, meanwhile, continued to light it up.He hit on 3-of-5 shots in the second half,including 2-of-3 from downtown. However, afterhitting a three from the corner with 6:54 to playto knot the game at 55-55, Clemente was shut out.Cornell increased the pressure on the Crimsonsharpshooter, keeping him scoreless for the restof the game. "I got a lot of good looks in the first half,and I got into a good rhythm, but it wasn't reallyin the flow of the offense," Clemente said. "Inthe second, I turned my ankle, which made it alittle tougher to get the good shots." Meanwhile, Hill's bittersweet night continued.He dished out five assists in the secondhalf--putting him within 13 of Tarik Campbell'94's all-time assist record--and turned the ballover only once. But he was still unable to findhis shooting stroke. With the Big Red bearing down on Clemente, Hilltried to pick up some of the slack. Unfortunatelyfor the Crimson, he was never able to get itgoing, finishing the game shooting only 4-of-18from the floor for 10 points. Harvard 68, Columbia 63 The Crimson used a game-high 20 points fromHill and a double-double from Ewing to hold offColumbia guard Gary Raimondo's 16-pointsecond-half outburst and beat the Lions 68-63 onFriday at Lavietes. In a sloppy seesaw contest that featured 19lead changes and 30 turnovers, Harvard hung on,making 22-of-25 free throws on the evening. "Our offense was tentative and a bit sloppy,"Sullivan said. "We weren't poised, we weren'tconfident in the team offensively. But it wasgreat to see us respond by making our freethrows." Clemente continued to play his finest ball ofthe season, scoring 18 points on 6-of-16 shootingand adding nine rebounds. Clemente has led theCrimson in scoring in three of the last fourgames. But it was Ewing's presence in the paint and onthe defensive glass that compensated for theColumbia backcourt's propensity to drive and crashthe offensive boards. Ewing finished with 10points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. "The significant defensive rebounding Ewinggave us helped immensely," Sullivan said. "He'sunder a fair amount of pressure, since we've losta center and a captain, but it's rewarding for himbecause he's such a diligent, hard worker. He'sgot to be commended for getting us through thegame." Raimondo, third in the Ivy in scoring at 17.3points per game and first in steals with 2.6,finished 8-of-15 and added seven steals,contributing mostly in the second half afterfinding his three-point touch and converting threetakeaways into uncontested transition baskets. But for the first time in the last threemeetings, Raimondo couldn't carry the Lions, asfreshman guard Drew Gellert and junior swingmanDamian Long combined to shut him down in mancoverage in the first half. "Raimondo definitely got his numbers," Sullivansaid. "I thought Gellert did a good job shadowinghim and established a good presence around him." Harvard used a 13-2 run to open up a 28-18 leadwith 6:05 remaining in the first half, usingtransition baskets by Beam--a breakaway lay-up anda three-pointer from the left wing--and a pair ofmakes from Hill to post its largest advantage ofthe game. But Columbia rallied on the strength ofsecond-chance baskets by center Mike McBrien andforward Craig Austin to close to 31-25 at theintermission. The Lions managed nine offensiverebounds in the half and outrebounded the Crimson20-15. Harvard battled through a disorganized secondhalf, committing 10 turnovers. Hill, the IvyLeague assists leader, managed only three assistsagainst three turnovers. "Columbia plays a really tough denial defense,"Hill said. "I've never had a lot of assistsagainst Columbia, and as a point guard that'sdefinitely something I keep track of." The Lions bounced back in a wild second half,which included one sequence with nine lead changesin 11 possessions. Harvard put together a decisive 8-0 run with3:06 remaining after Columbia guard AbeYasser--who had made only four treys on theseason--knocked down a three-pointer from the topof the arc. "You have to stay close with a team likeColumbia because of their three-point shooting,"Sullivan said. "When they're making, they'redangerous." Clemente followed with a lay-up from the lowpost from Beam, then stuffed Columbia on threestraight possessions and made 9-of-12 from thefree-throw line down the stretch. Clemente picked off Yasser's errant pass andEwing and Hill pulled down defensive boards tostall the Columbia offense inside 3:00 remaining. HARVARD, 68-63 at Lavietes Pavilion Columbia 25 38 -- 63Harvard 31 37 -- 68 COLUMBIA: Austin 4-10 1-1 12; Namolik4-12 2-3 12; McBrien 3-6 0-1 6; Yasser 3-10 1-2 8;Raimondo 8-15 0-3 18; Merley 0-1 0-0 0; Case 3-70-0 7; Munoz 0-1 0-0 0; Mboya 0-1 0-0 0; Mayo 0-00-0 0. TOTALS 25-63 4-10 63. HARVARD: Gellert 0-1 3-4 3; Clemente6-16 5-6 18; Ewing 3-5 4-4 10; Hill 7-11 5-6 20;Beam 4-9 3-3 13; Coleman 0-0 0-0 0; Long 0-2 0-00; Harvey 1-2 2-2 4. TOTALS: 21-46 22-25 68. CORNELL, 74-64 at Lavietes Pavilion Cornell 33 41 -- 74Harvard 34 30 -- 64 CORNELL: Prather 5-10 8-10 20; Cuttica0-2 3-4 3; Mercedes 7-15 3-4 20; Brown 9-13 0-018; Kruse 2-8 0-0 4; Aubry 3-5 3-4 9; Pieri 0-20-0 0; Carroll 0-3 0-0 0; Vernon 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS26-59 17-22 74. HARVARD: Hill 4-18 1-1 10; Clemente 8-132-2 23; Beam 5-11 2-2 14; Ewing 5-13 0-0 10;Gellert 0-2 0-0 0; Long 1-2 2-2 5; Harvey 1-4 0-02; Coleman 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24-65 7-7 64.
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