But they would be wrong.

Harvard is in a much better position than it was in last year.

For one thing, consider what happened shortly after last season's Ivy wins. Having twice upset a stronger Dartmouth team with an inexperienced lineup, the Crimson went on the road against Yale and Brown and promptly dropped both games to inferior opponents. Even though the season is long, the losses left the team in a mess that took a while to sort out.

This year (and now, in a new millenium) the Crimson aren't going to surprise anyone, as it was projected to finish third in the Ivies and possibly higher. But the close wins over Dartmouth clearly illustrate one thing: Harvard is much more up to the challenge than in recent years.

Saturday's win was made possible by two players who weren't around for last season's Dartmouth games. Senior forward Dan Clemente had just injured his retina before the first game last year and did not return to action until mid-February. His presence Saturday gave the Crimson a strong offensive option that they didn't have last season, and his defense and rebounding against 6'9 forward Mark Kissling was effective in such a close contest.

Clemente was also the impetus behind the game's most important play. After the Big Green had come within two points with 32.5 seconds to play, the Crimson had to come up with some points to avoid a late-game meltdown.

Dartmouth pressed on an inbounds pass, and Clemente (in an act that required some cojones and a lot of confidence in his teammates) tossed a home-run pass to junior guard Drew Gellert, who was streaking down the court. The pass was perfect, and Gellert blew by Big Green freshman Jordan Naihe to make the catch and the layup.