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.