M. Basketball Playing for Third

With two games left, Harvard men's basketball looks to put a positive spin on the season by defeating Yale and Brown this weekend.

Harvard (11-13, 4-8 Ivy) enters these games sixth in the league and sports three of the league's top scorers: Mike Scott (5th), Tim Hill (7th) and Dan Clemente (8th). The team hopes to finish the season at .500 but first must muster victories over it's Ivy League rivals.

The Crimson is coming off a 77-66 loss to Penn last weekend. Though it started out strong and took a commanding 11-0 lead, the Crimson was unable to maintain such momentum for the full forty minutes. The night was highlighted, however, by the fantastic play of junior center Paul Fisher, who had a career high 26 points. Captain Mike Scott also put in an outstanding performance with 21 points.

Tonight's game marks the 156th meeting against the good ol' Elis (11-13, 6-6 Ivies). They defeated the Crimson 72-66 several weeks ago in New Haven. After jumping out to a huge lead in the first half, the Bull-dogs were able hold on despite a second half Crimson comeback which brought the game to overtime. This time, Harvard plans for things to go differently.

"We are looking for retribution," said freshman forward Dan Clemente, who scored 18 against the Quakers. Clemente, with a 13.9 scoring average, is the league's leading freshman scorer and has been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week six times.

In terms of personal play, this extraordinary freshman places special emphasis on defense. "If I play good defense this weekend, I'll be happy," he said.

Yale now clings on to third place in the league, although that depends on the outcomes this weekend. Luck does side with the Crimson tonight as it plays in Lavietes Pavilion, where it is 4-2 in its last six games against the Bulldogs, including wins the past two seasons. In comparison, the Crimson has a 2-7 record in its last nine at Yale's John J. Lee Amphitheater.

Harvard dukes it out on its home court again tomorrow night against Brown (6-18, 3-9 Ivy). Harvard lost to the Bears earlier this season, 71-60. Much like the bout with the Elis, Harvard faced a huge deficit early and summoned a strong yet unsuccessful run late in the game. This final game of the season also is the farewell game for Mike Scott, the team captain and only senior.

"We're looking forward to this weekend," said junior point guard Tim Hill, who had six points and eight assists against Penn. "We want to finish the year on a positive note. We want to salvage what has been a somewhat disappointing season. [There will be] a high level of energy and intensity."

Hill heads into the weekend as the Ivy leader in assists (5.0 per game) and third on the Crimson over-all career assist list after giving out his 400th last weekend at Penn.

Harvard can still possibly finish in third place, however. Such a result depends on winning both games and on other league outcomes. A perfect weekend would, however, guarantee a tie in a school record for most wins over a three year period.

The heat is definitely on as the season simmers to a close and the team seeks to avenge its earlier losses Yale and Brown.