Another last second victory, another night on the court for the Harvard men's basketball team and sophomore guard Pat Harvey.

Coming off its dramatic 80-78 win against Hartford, the Crimson (10-6, 3-1 Ivy) goes full steam into its conference schedule this weekend when it travels to face Ivy League foes Cornell and Columbia.

In its last non-conference game of the season Monday night, Harvard needed a buzzer-beating lay-up by Harvey to lift the Crimson past the Hawks, imitating his heroics from Harvard's bout at home against Dartmouth earlier in the season. The victory completed a remarkable unblemished record (5-0) against the America East conference.

The upcoming games will determine whether or not the 2001 edition of the Crimson will become the first Harvard team to advance to the NCAA tournament since 1946. This team can also claim Harvard's first Ivy League basketball championship ever.

"This league is going to be so close this year, and every win is important," Crimson captain forward Dan Clemente said.

Harvard's road to the championship continues tonight in Ithaca, N.Y. against upstart Cornell. The Big Red (5-12, 1-3) hope to bounce back from a 91-84 loss to Stony Brook on Monday.

Cornell is led by senior forward Ray Mercedes, who averages 12.9 points per game and is fourth on the Big Red's all-time scoring list. He scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds in the loss at Stony Brook. His versatile up-and-down game will certainly pose problems for Crimson defenders.

Joining Mercedes in the frontcourt is sophomore forward Jake Rohe, one of the most improved players in the Ivy League. Rohe, after averaging only two points and two rebounds per game last season, has stepped up for the Big Red as a secondary interior option, averaging close to nine points and over six rebounds a game this season.