Cagers Tip Cornell, 95-94

Harvard basketball coach Bob Harrison was worried that his squad would not by psyched for Cornell Saturday night, and though his worries were justified, the Crimson escaped from Ithaca with a narrow 95-94 victory.

Harvard edged the Big Red on two Floyd Lewis free throws with four seconds remaining, to finish its season with a 15-11 overall record. The triumph also gave the Crimson an 8-6 Ivy mark, good for third place in the League.

Penn captured the Ivy League crown for the third straight season with a 37-33 win over Brown. Princeton, which topped Yale and Brown this weekend and should be invited to the National Invitational Tournament, finished second with a 12-2 mark. Dartmouth tied the Crimson for third by defeating Columbia, 107-73.

"Whew," said Michael Standish, who travelled to Cornell to see the Crimson play their final game. "But whether you win by an inch or a mile doesn't matter in the League standings."

The Crimson moved to a 12-point half-time lead against Cornell, 49-37, and maintained its advantage through most of the second half with its four high school All-Americans leading the way.

Sophomore guard Jim Fitzsimmons poured in 25 points, while Tony Jenkins tallied 19, and James Brown added 18. Lewis with 10 was the Crimson's only other scorer in double figures.

But midway through the second half, Cornell caught fire. With Rick Amato and John Coles leading the way, the Big Red stormed back with seven straight points to pull within two, 88-86. Then the, Crimson tallied a series of five free throws, and Hal Smith added a basket to put the game out of Cornell's reach.

Amato and Coles paced Cornell with 25-point performances, while Gerry Newby, who scored 32 points against Harvard two weeks ago, only scored 17. The Crimson's Kerry Scanlon held Newby to just two baskets in the second half.

"We weren't really up for the game," captain Brian Newmark said yesterday. "It was the last game of the season, and against Cornell, but it wasn't a real one-point game. We were ahead all the way, and just like the Columbia game, Cornell scored a few quick baskets at the end of the game," he added.

The Crimson's season, which was marked by a mid-season slump, ended much the way its season ended last year--with a string of Ivy League victories. This year it broke the record of most consecutive League wins by racking up its last eight contests.

Sophomore guard Jim Fitzsimmons broke the single-season scoring mark by almost 100 points by pouring in 634 in 26 games for a 24.4 average. Junior James Brown scored 438 this winter, and is now the eighth-leading scorer in Harvard history with 878.