M. Basketball Upsets Pennsylvania

Harvard was on the cusp of history Saturday night.

The previous evening, captain Dan Clemente's 29 points allowed the Crimson (12-8, 5-3 Ivy) to knock off Penn (8-13, 5-1), 77-62, for the first time in four years and by the largest margin in 44 years. Harvard's victory also snapped Penn's 25-game Ivy League win streak, the longest conference winning streak in nation.

Up by one point with 7.4 seconds remaining against Princeton (10-8, 5-1) on Saturday, Harvard was on the verge of beating both Ivy powerhouses in the same weekend for the first time since 1987. With a sweep against the Quakers and Tigers, the Crimson would have legitimately been in the hunt for its first-ever Ivy League championship.

But Princeton sophomore guard Kyle Wente tainted Harvard's historic weekend when his off-balance, last-second shot sliced through the net at the buzzer.

The Tiger faithful erupted in spontaneous celebration as the Crimson fans and players left the court in shock, dejected by the gutwrenching turn of events that propelled Princeton to a 69-67 win.

"I thought [Wente] threw up a tremendous shot to end a tremendous basketball game," said Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan. "But there's no question that we have to find some resolve from this heartbreaking loss."

Harvard's weekend split places it solidly in third place behind Ivy co-leaders Penn and Princeton. The Crimson will take the bittersweet taste of this past weekend into next weekend's road trip to Brown (9-11, 3-4) and Yale (7-13, 4-3). Princeton rolls into the Palestra tomorrow to play Penn for first place in the league.

Princeton 69, Harvard 67

When sophomore guard Brady Merchant hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with nine minutes left in the second half, it seemed like the Crimson was on its way to another stunning win.

Merchant's long jumper capped an 18-8 run that left the Crimson well ahead of the Tigers at 54-43.

After barely leading 31-30 at the half, the Crimson had steadily built the double-digit lead, answering every Princeton scoring run with one of its own. As it would turn out, however, Harvard couldn't keep answering all night.

Wente and junior guard Ahmed El-Nokali ignited a pair of 7-0 runs late in the second half that pulled the Tigers to within two points at 60-58. Following a lay-in from sophomore guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman and a fortuitous bounce on a Clemente three-pointer, Harvard led by five points with 2:38 left to play.

Again, Princeton responded with a quick 6-0 run fueled by freshman guard Andre Logan and senior center Nate Walton. Walton, who finished with 16 points on the night, hit a running lay-up with 22.2 seconds left to put Princeton up 66-65.

Unfazed by Princeton's resilience, Harvard marched back down the court and got the ball to its venerable captain. Clemente, with the eyes of 2,195 spectators on his every move, pulled up in the lane and calmly hit a ten-footer to give Harvard a 67-66 lead with only 7.4 seconds left to play.

After a timeout, El-Nokali received the inbounds pass and brought the ball up the court. The 6'4 guard dished the ball off to Wente, who was immediately surrounded by two Crimson players. Wente, running out of time, left his feet, pumped the ball, and released an off-balance shot as the clock expired.

The three-pointer sealed Princeton's fifth Ivy win of the season.

"It's a good win, but it's also an escape," said Princeton Coach John Thompson III. "[Harvard] played hard all night and we just caught a break at the end."

Wente, whose game-winning shot gave him a career-high 22 points, was 4-for-7 from beyond the arc and hit an impressive 75 percent of his shots from the field. The sophomore also chipped in with six rebounds, three assists and a steal.

"It was the biggest [game in my career]," Wente said.

Despite the stinging loss, Harvard also had its own primetime performances. Sophomore guard Pat Harvey had a team-high 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting and Clemente, with his four three-pointers, passed the 200 mark for treys in his career.

Despite the good offensive production from the usual suspects, the Crimson defense failed to generate one its hallmarks--steals. Harvard's three steals on the night was its lowest output of the season and junior forward Drew Gellert went without a steal for the first time in 47 consecutive games. Gellert, who leads the Ivy League and is fourth in the nation in steals per game, finished with five points and four assists.

Harvard 77, Penn 62

The last thing the Penn Quakers resembled was defending Ivy League Champions on Friday night.

Clemente's 29 points and Penn's 23 turnovers combined to give Harvard its largest margin of victory over the Quakers in over four decades. It was far from domination, but the Crimson outplayed the Quakers in all facets of the game.

"Harvard did a great job, but I'm not surprised they played well," said Penn Coach Fran Dunphy. "We just weren't playing well as a team and we did foolish things defensively."

Harvard seemed to have the momentum out of the gate as Prasse-Freeman and Gellert combined for the Crimson's first seven points. After that, though, it was the Dan Clemente show.

The 6'6 senior, who passed Danny Ferry '85 for eighth on Harvard's all-time scoring list, scored 14 of the Crimson's next 16 points as Harvard held a slim 25-22 lead with four minutes left in the first half.

Then, all hell broke loose.

After stealing the ball just outside of the lane on Penn's end of the court, Merchant exploded to the hoop and was fouled on the way up. Unfortunately for Penn, Merchant finished the dunk with bravado and ignited the sellout crowd at Lavietes Pavilion.

"The Merchant dunk was a big momentum play, and we have to stop those types of plays to win games like these," Dunphy said.

After the dust settled from the dunk, Harvard was up 27-22 and carried the momentum into the locker room, leading 33-29 at the half.

"At halftime, we talked about not being satisfied with just 20 minutes of basketball," Clemente said. "You need to play all 40 (minutes) to win."

The Crimson followed the advice of its captain and pieced together an even better second half.

Harvey, who was held scoreless in the first half, erupted in the second half with 15 points, two assists and two steals.

Harvard maintained its halftime lead and extended it throughout the second half. The 15-point margin of victory was the Crimson's largest lead of the night.

"It was surprising [to win by so much]," Sullivan said. "They have very good talent and to beat a team like that is encouraging."

For Penn, none of its star players established a rhythm Friday night. Sophomore Ugonna Onyekwe, last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year, only mustered ten points and nearly had more turnovers individually (seven) than the Crimson squad had collectively (ten). Senior guard Lamar Plummer was also relatively quiet, only scoring 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting.

The win also kept alive another interesting and important streak for the Crimson. With Friday's upset over Penn, Harvard has not lost two games in a row all season. The last Crimson team to accomplish this feat this far into the season was the 1945-46 squad that made it to the NCAA Tournament.

"From the outset, our team was focused on not losing two in a row, and it was very important to our guys not to lose two in a row tonight," Sullivan said.

With the win against the Quakers, the Crimson now has twelve wins, which equals last year's total and is the highest number of wins at this point in the schedule since the banner 1996-97 season.