It was a perfect ending to a not-so-perfect afternoon.

The Harvard men's basketball team (4-3, 1-0 Ivy) narrowly escaped a demoralizing defeat to Dartmouth (1-6, 0-1), pulling out with a rather messy 79-78 decision on the last second heroics of captain Dan Clemente and sophomore guard Patrick Harvey.

Down 78-74 with just six seconds remaining, Clemente took an assist from sophomore point guard Elliot Prasse-Freeman and drained a three to pull within one.

With just three seconds on the clock, the Crimson needed a big play to get possession for a chance to win. Harvey stepped up, stealing the inbounds pass from Big Green junior guard Flinder Boyd and immediately put the ball up. Boyd fouled Harvey on the way up, giving him two shots from the line.

Harvey, who went into the game as the second leading free throw shooter in the nation at 97.6 percent, easily sank both, putting the Crimson up 79-78. That tally would be the final score, as sophomore guard Brady Merchant intercepted Dartmouth's long inbounds pass to seal the victory.

"We needed somebody to come up big," Harvey said. "We couldn't be giving up any games, and we couldn't just let up in the end. The ball kind of bounced our way a little bit, and we hit the big shots when we needed to, which is key."

Oddly enough, the closing seconds of the game served as redemption for what were more or less sub-par games from Harvey and Clemente.

Harvey, whose three-point accuracy and slashing moves account for his 14.7 points a game, had shot only 6-for-15 against Dartmouth. For much of the game Harvey was visibly distraught, having committed 4 turnovers in addition to his poor shooting.

On the same token, Clemente shot an anemic 5-for-14 from the floor, and was only 2-for-7 on treys going into the final seconds.

Yet both showed poise and confidence in coming up big at the end, redeeming themselves by getting the victory.

"We were able to make a couple of plays when it looked a little bleak," said Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan. "I give our guys a lot of credit for keeping their poise. It's very easy to lose your poise and think the game was over with less than 20 seconds to go. But they didn't. They hung in there and two guys made big plays for us."

The game in which Clemente set up the win with the late three also featured his breaking the school record for all-time three-pointers. He came into the game tied with Mike Gilmore '96 at 167. Eleven minutes into the first half, Clemente broke that mark, eventually nailing three from beyond the arc in the game to finish with 170.

The entire game itself was a see-saw affair worthy of its ending. In the first half, neither team led by more than five until Dartmouth pulled out to a 41-34 lead with a late 5-0 run to end the half.

In the first half alone, Dartmouth senior guard Greg Buth, a sharpshooter averaging 19.5 points a game, scored 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

Yet in the second half, Harvard came out running. Five minutes in, sophomore forward Sam Winter took an assist from sophomore point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman and made a rim-rattling dunk, firing up his teammates and pulling within 45-42.

Two minutes later, the Crimson went on an amazing 13-0 run that turned an eight-point deficit into a 60-55 lead in with seven minutes remaining. Junior guard Andrew Gellert catalyzed this spurt with two steals and some hustling floor play.

Gellert, who is averaging an Ivy League-leading 3.0 steals a game, had a whopping six thefts against a Dartmouth team whose three-point focus opens it up to interceptions along the perimeter. In other aspects, Gellert also played fantastically, finishing with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, 10 rebounds and four assists.

"I thought it was fabulous to see Drew get a double-double in this game and get steals," Sullivan said. "I thought he played a tremendous floor game."

After Harvard's run, the Big Green pulled to a 70-70 tie with a barrage of three-pointers, mostly from junior forward Mark Kissling, who was 4-for-7 from the field on three-pointers. Eventually, Dartmouth got out to the 78-74 lead that Clemente and Harvey would dismantle.

This three-point frenzy characterized both teams' offenses. Both Harvard and Dartmouth proved more than able to get around each other's perimeter defenses while feeding the hot hand. Harvard finished 12-for-26 from beyond the arc, while Dartmouth shot 13-for-24.

The Crimson distributed the ball more or less equally, with four players hitting double digits in scoring. Harvey and Clemente scored 17 and 13 points, respectively. Besides Gellert, reserve sophomore guard Brady Merchant exploded for 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, and was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Merchant also contributed four rebounds in just 19 minutes of play.

"I think that Brady was about to score some points tonight," Sullivan said. "He's only a sophomore. I think there will be some ups and downs, but that's the kind of expectation we had for him, that he could do those types of things tonight, so it was really good to see."

Winter, another reserve, played well, contributing eight points and two steals while providing solid interior defense in the second-half with sophomore center Onnie Mayshak in foul trouble.

Finally, the player who quarterbacked the offense, point guard Prasse-Freeman, performed admirably despite early foul trouble. He contributed eight assists along with six points and was tough on the boards and on the floor with eight rebounds and three steals.

All in all, the game was a duel in the tradition of Harvard-Dartmouth basketball. In the last seven years, the Crimson holds a slight edge with an 8-6 advantage over the Big Green.

"Look at the record," Sullivan said. "Dartmouth had won three out of the last four games here, and I think we have done the same thing up there. It's like so unpredictable that nothing really holds true…it reinforces the spirit the kids have for rivalry in the Ivy League, and really, this was about Ivy basketall today, and both teams had a sense of that."

Yet, Dartmouth falls to a dismal 1-6--its only victory against Division III Haverford--while the Crimson jumps to 4-3. For Harvard, this match could set the tone for the upcoming Ivy season for this talented but young team.

"We've been a little inconsistent," Sullivan said. "But I think we're moving along okay for having half the team in the freshman and sophomore class."

In any case, the Crimson has its first league win under its belt and any momentum that follows it.

"That [win] is just huge," Clemente said. "We're 1-0 in league, and that's just great. This league is going to be so close this year, and every win is important."

Harvard continues its season on Tuesday with a non-conference bout against Vermont at Lavietes Pavilion. Tip-off is at 7pm.