Following a timeout, Harvey picked off a pass, which led to an impressive dunk by sophomore forward Sam Winter. Twenty seconds later, Harvey got another steal and scored the two points himself.

At this point, the Crimson was up 57-45 with three minutes left and looking to put the nail in the coffin.

But like the game against Hartford earlier in the week, Harvard couldn't handle the pressure well. Turnovers let the Big Red back into the game, and Cornell pulled to within four on Jake Rohe's three-pointer with 55 seconds left to play.

Time was on Harvard's side, however. Cornell was forced to foul, and Clemente made all four of his free throw attempts in the final minute to seal the eight-point victory.

"At the end our defense was good," Prasse-Freeman said. "But we had trouble handling pressure and hitting free throws. We've only been good at times," he said, referring to the Crimson's tendency to lose some late leads.

While the Cornell victory was important, the loss to Columbia puts the Crimson's post-season hopes in jeopardy only six games in to the Ivy season. Having lost to Yale at home before the break, and facing Penn and Princeton this weekend, the Crimson faces some dire straits.

"We pretty much have to play excellent basketball from here on out," Prasse-Freeman said. "There's no margin for error. It's a feeling of desperation."

That may be the Crimson's tagline for the rest of the season.