ITHACA, N.Y.—All season long, critics and fans have been talking about how much of a difference a year has made for the Harvard men’s basketball team, after the loss of five seniors led to the squad tying the worst start in school history.

Add the discovery that sophomore center Brian Cusworth would not return for Ivy League play, and there seemed little hope that this young team could match the four conference wins last year’s squad posted.

But the Crimson is poised to do just that. After defeating Cornell 81-78 Saturday night in a back-and-forth game, which saw five lead changes or ties in the final five minutes and the biggest lead at any time only amount to seven points, the team now has as many league wins—three—as the 2002-’03 squad did at this point last season

Cornell (11-12, 6-4 Ivy) guard Ka’Ron Barnes had one final chance to tie the game after junior guard David Giovacchini—who tied his career high of fourteen points—hit both of his free throws to put Harvard up by three with five seconds left in regulation. But Barnes’ desperation shot from behind the arc bounced harmlessly off of the rim, and Cornell couldn’t control the rebound before time ran off the clock, securing the upset for the Crimson (4-19, 3-7).

The victory also ends the Big Red’s hopes for the Ivy title. Cornell had a shot at winning at least a share of tops in the Ancient Eight after Brown beat Penn on Friday night.

“You know it’s strange,” said sophomore forward Matt Stehle, who led Harvard with 15 points and nine rebounds. “We come back against teams that are supposed to better. Cornell’s supposed to be a lot better than Columbia, and we just played hard right down at the end of the game.”

Barnes’ last shot was one of several Cornell chances to tie in the waning minutes of the game. Trailing 77-72, forward Lenny Collins nailed a three pointer to bring the Big Red within two points of Harvard with 28 seconds left. The trey was the last of Collins’ career-high 31 points. His previous high was 19—a mark set the last time Cornell faced off against the Crimson.

Following a Big Red timeout, Stehle inbounded the ball to junior captain Jason Norman, who gave the ball back to Stehle. Thinking that Cornell was going to immediately foul him, Stehle initially held onto the ball before trying to move it up the floor and was called for traveling with 23 seconds left—turning the ball over to Cornell.

But rather than go for the tie and send the game into overtime, the Big Red went for the win, as guard David Lisle found himself open in three-point range in the corner and launched up a shot.

“I helped with [guarding] Collins but I should have been guarding the three-point shooter, because a two would not have [won it],” said Stehle. “I saw the ball go up, and it looked like it was on course, but I think [the ball] just nicked the rim. As soon as it came down I was like ‘whew.’ But my heart definitely stopped for a second there.”

After two more free throws from junior guard Kevin Rogus—who finished with 12 points and hit four clutch free throws in a row in the final five minutes—Harvard led by four, 79-75. But the league-leading scorer Barnes—who broke out of his shell in the second half to score 21 of his 27 points—converted a three-point play after Stehle fouled him on a made layup to pull Cornell within one with six seconds left.

After Barnes made his shot from the charity strip, Harvard got the ball to Giovacchini, who was fouled and went on to make both of his free throws—the final points of the 81-78 contest.

“It’s a terrific win based on playing the toughest team, on the road, on the toughest weekend of the year,” said Harvard coach Frank Sullivan.

Due to its personnel shortages, the Crimson was in danger of losing control of the game when Cornell tied the score 68-68 with 4:12 remaining in the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Michael Beal had fouled out of the game at 5:12, and Rogus had just gone to the bench after twice falling hard on his injured ankle, taking two starters off of the floor.

But Giovacchini and freshman guard Jim Goffredo provided a spark off the bench, and continued their strong play for the remainder of the game despite foul trouble down the final stretch.

Giovacchini was also one of five Crimson players to score in double digits. The other four were Stehle, Rogus, Norman, and junior center Graham Beatty.

“We haven’t had [balanced scoring] all year,” Sullivan said. “It was just great to see the contribution from the bench.”

Harvard was also able to shut down the Big Red’s Cody Toppert, who came into the night second in the league in scoring (16.4 points per game). Toppert finished the night with just six points and was 2-of-13 from the field.

“We certainly dodged a bullet there,” Sullivan said.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.