M. Basketball Journeys South on Ivy Road Trip to Brown and Yale

It'll be difficult for the Harvard men's basketball team to match its performance from last weekend.

The Crimson hosted long-time Ivy powerhouses Penn and Princeton, and was able to beat Penn at Lavietes Pavilion before falling to Princeton on a last-second chuck from behind the arc.

Harvard (12-8, 5-3 Ivy) will need to keep its focus, however, as the it rolls into games against Brown and Yale this weekend. Harvard will look to ride the boost of momentum that it got from last weekend's series in Providence.

The Bears (9-11, 3-4), are riding their own wave of success as well. Brown crushed Ivy doormat Cornell, 85-52, on Saturday, and eeked by Columbia, 60-59, the night before.

Bears sophomore point guard Earl Hunt did it all against the Big Red. The Ivy's leading scorer (19.5 ppg) dropped 18 points on Cornell, on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. His 11 rebounds represented the difference in total boards between the two teams.

Shooting 64 percent from the field in the second half, the Bears did not let up on the Big Red after storming out to a 11-0 lead after the initial tip.

The previous night, Brown junior Jesse Wood hit three free throws with one second remaining to push Brown past Columbia.

Brown has won six of seven at Pizzitola Pavilion this season, and currently occupies fifth place in the conference. Harvard took it to the Bears in the last meeting between the teams, beating them 91-69, as Crimson captain Dan Clemente exploded for 26 points and the defense held Brown to 25 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

Clemente was recently named Ivy League Player of the Week for the period ending Feb. 10, and is averaging 18.9 ppg. He is second behind Hunt in the chase for the League scoring title.

Harvard was also able to force 22 turnovers in that meeting, and will look to pickpocket junior guard Drew Gellert to pressure the Bears' ballhandlers. Gellert's 3.1 steals per game is good enough for the Ivy lead, and rates fifth in the nation.

The third-place Crimson head from Providence to scenic New Haven for a matchup with the Elis on Saturday.

Yale (7-13, 4-3), fourth in the conference, will no doubt be fired up for Harvard after its dramatic double overtime victory over Columbia on Saturday night.

Freshman forward Scott Garfield put back an errant Bulldog shot as time expired to give Yale the victory, 80-78. A Columbia jumper tied the game at 78-78 with eight seconds remaining in the second extra period, but Garfield's field goal gave Yale the win.

Yale dropped its previous game to Cornell, as the Elis were out rebounded 39-25 and shot only 41 percent from the field.

In the teams' prior meeting, Yale found a way to edge the Crimson at home for an overtime win. Bulldog sophomore center Ime Archibong hit a driving layup with 22 seconds remaining to seal the game and sink Harvard. Archibong started the extra frame by hitting a three-pointer, sending Yale on a 7-3 run that the Crimson was never able to counter.

The weekend series is vital for Harvard, as the Brown/Yale games are sandwiched between both Penn/Princeton series. The Crimson is back on the road next week, heading to the homes of the Ivy's two perennial powerhouses, and needs wins this weekend to keep pace with the conference luminaries.

The matches should clear up the playoff picture substantially, as the Crimson need to take two against the Quakers and Tigers (a feat unaccomplished in the Ivy since 1989) in order to remain in contention for an Ivy League title.