In its toughest weekend of action on the schedule this season, the Harvard men's basketball team traveled to New Jersey and Pennsylvania to take on perennial Ivy League powers Princeton and Penn.

Despite battling Valiantly against its more talented opponents, the Crimson came up short, losing both contests. HARVARD  60 PRINCETON  66 HARVARD  56 PENN  81

On Friday night the Harvard (9-11, 3-5 Ivy)was in Princeton taking on the Tigers (14-3, 6-0 Ivy). Led by sophomore forward Dan Clemente's hot shooting hand, the Crimson clawed back from a 20-point deficit to pull within six with under two minutes to play before falling 66-60.

Saturday night, Harvard was in Philadelphia to face Penn (14-3, 60 Ivy). The Crimson played the Quakers tough early on, but Penn soon pulled away en route to a 81-56 win. Clemente led the Crimson in scoring once again.

Harvard was without the services of captain center Paul Fisher--who leads the team in rebounding--and his absence forced the Crimson to fight an uphill battle all weekend.

The Crimson was beaten up all weekend in the paint by teams with two of the largest frontcourt lineups in the Ivy league. Princeton freshman center Chris Young and Penn junior center Geoff Owens, hurt Harvard with 20 and 16 points, respectively.

Penn 81, Harvard 56

After falling short in its furious comeback attempt at Princeton, the Crimson had to muster up all its energy to take on Penn at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

On this night, however, Harvard (9-11, 3-5 Ivy) proved to not be up to the task, as the quicker, bigger Quakers (14-3, 6-0 Ivy) wore down the Crimson en route to a 81-56 victory.

Despite obvious fatigue, throughout the course of the game Penn made it clear to all that, tired or not, it was clearly the superior team.

"Fatigue had nothing to do with it; Penn is just good," Coach Frank Sullivan said. "Sure you're tired on Saturday nights on the road in the Ivy League, but you've got to fight. It's more that Penn is just that good."

The Quakers utilized a balanced attack and tough inside play to pick apart Harvard, as all five Penn starters finished the game with double digits in scoring.

Leading the way for the Quakers--who are currently tied with Princeton for first place in the Ivies--was junior center Geoff Owens. Owens, who at 6'11 is two inches taller than his Crimson counter-part, senior center Bill Ewing, had a terrific game, finishing the contest with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds (five on the offensive glass).

"I'm not really surprised with Owens, becausehe's one of the best players in the league,"Sullivan said. "He's a horse to box-out, and isjust a tough player inside."

Sophomore forward Dan Clemente was the Crimsonhigh-man with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Unlike the previous game against Princeton,Harvard seemed composed and prepared for thehostile crowd. Penn came out of the box quickly,jumping out to a 10-2 lead, but the Crimson seemedto weather the storm.

Determined to play more aggressively then itdid against Princeton the night before, theCrimson attacked the Quakers early on. With itsaggressive play on both the defensive andoffensive side of the ball, Harvard stayed withPenn and cut the Quaker lead to five at 19-14 nineminutes into the first half.