Interestingly, Harvard was well prepared defensively for Princeton's last possession. Coach Frank Sullivan has practiced what he calls, "the seven-second drill" with his team this year. The drill sets up a scenario directly analogous to what Harvard was faced with against Princeton. The idea behind the drill is to construct an aggressive defense without fouling when leading by one or two points with seven seconds remaining in the game.

"I thought we played excellent defense in the last seven seconds of the game," Sullivan said. "We forced [Wente] to shoot an off-balanced prayer. We didn't send him to the free throw line. He made a tremendous shot to end a tremendous Ivy League basketball game."

Princeton coach John Thompson actually constructed the last play to have either senior captain Nate Walton or freshman forward Konrad Wysocki shoot the final shot. Wente, however, realized he would not have time to pass the ball after Gellert initially pressured him around mid-court.

"All I was thinking was to get the ball up court," Wente said. "I knew I had enough time when I took the shot, and the ball felt good when it left my hand."

In a normal situation, Wente probably would not have been on the court at the game's conclusion. Princeton's leading scorer, junior Mike Bechtold (10.4 ppg), has missed Princeton's past three games with a foot injury. Wente replaced Bechtold in Princeton's starting line-up and should continue to command ample playing time after Bechtold returns.

"Kyle has really progressed as a player. He's a huge asset for us," Thompson said, though the coach did admit to thinking about bringing Bechtold into the game despite his injury. "There were times throughout the game when I really wanted to bring Mike in, but I knew it wasn't best for his health," Thompson said.

The Current Ivy Picture

Harvard's weekend split drops the squad two games behind both the Quakers and the Tigers in the loss column. Princeton and Penn will square off against each other tomorrow night, which ensures another loss to one of the two teams. However, realistically, Harvard may have to win all of its remaining Ivy League games in order to win this year's championship. Though Coach Sullivan is content on 'taking one game at a time,' he understands the potential magnitude of Wente's heave on the remainder of Harvard's season.