The set-up: The Harvard Crimson opened with back-to-back home wins but fell 73-69 at Holy Cross when the team's late rally (down 10 in the first half) fell short. The Crimson will visit NYC Saturday afternoon to take on the Manhattan Jaspers, who opened their 2017-18 season by edging St. Francis (NY) 80-79 in overtime.

Harvard: The Crimson are off seasons of 14 and 18 wins (well down from previous Amaker teams) but return four starters, including PG Bryce Aiken. Aiken leads the team at 18.3 PPG (4.0 rebounds & 3.3 assists) plus the 6-7 Towns (16.3 & 6.7) and the 6-9 Lewis (10.0 & 5.3) are also contributing double digit scoring. Big guard Justin Bassey chips in 5.7-6.3-3.0. Holy Cross out-shot Harvard 50.0 to 42.3 percent but the Crimson kept the game close by winning the battle of the boards, 34-19. However, in the end, the Crimson just made too many mistakes, as they had 23 TOs!

Manhattan: The Jaspers are off a lousy 10-22 season but do return four starters, including 6-5 senior Rich Williams, who is back for a fifth season off last year's injury. He had 21 points and six rebounds in the team's opening-game win, joined by three other double-digit scorers. Fellow guard Zavier Turner had 16 points off the bench, although he played 35 minutes. Up front, the 6-8 Crawford had 11 & 5 and the 6-9 Waterman added 10 & 9.

The pick: Manhattan will be much more competitive this season with a healthy Williams but Harvard is the better team with a solid core of experienced players. Make Harvard a 10*