COURT FIVE MEETS SPRINGFIELD TEAM

Captain Smith of the University court five will be unable to lead his team against Springfield when it goes on the floor in Hemenway Gymnasium at 8 o'clock tonight. Smith received a slight ankle sprain in a practice tilt Monday night, and has not scrimmaged since. The member did not bother him at first, but in the past few days it has become more painful, and it is doubtful whether he will see action this evening. The inclement weather has caused stiffness, which will prevent his playing.

Mid-Years Spoil Team Play

The team that won the first three games of the season has not scrimmaged together since the opening of the midyear examination period. Two games have been dropped during this time, and the team-play has been ragged. The question of whether it is expedient to hold contests during examinations in a game like basketball, which requires such an amount of cooperation between the players, is puzzling. The policy of discontinuing basketball schedules during examinations has been followed at Dartmouth and several other colleges.

The team, however, will have plenty of opportunity to pull itself together, with four games in the next week. Tonight it will try and prevent the number of defeats from balancing the victories. Coombs has definitely received the assignment at left guard for the present. It was thought that Barbee's superior physique would win him the job, but Coombs' speed has put him ahead of his heavier rival. Barbee will be a relief man for both Malick and Coombs.

Malick is Team's Iron Man

Substitutes for Malick have hardly been thought of in the five games played so far. He has only missed about three minutes of actual playing time since the season started, the result of a slight injury in the Colgate encounter. Malick was the high scorer in the University in the Connecticut Aggies game last Saturday, and is beginning to show signs of filling the shoes of Captain Samborski of last year's quintet as a running guard. This is what Coach Wachter has been searching for all season.

Shots under the basket have been the weakness of the team in its two latest tilts, and enough such tosses were missed in the Connecticut Aggies game to score an easy triumph had they been successful. This department of the game, together with foul shooting, has been stressed by Coach Wachter in every session of this week's practice.

The Springfield aggregation is a strong one, having defeated the hitherto unbeaten Amherst five last week by a score of 37 to 10. It is also credited with a win over Tufts on the latter's home floor. The team is composed of men who are older than the Crimson courtmen, and who have had more basketball experience. It is likely that they will present opposition just as formidable as last year, when Springfield was defeated by the close margin of 32 to 30.