Navy Defeats Quintet, 68-50; Same Lineup To Face B.C.

Navy did indeed beat the varsity basketball team 68 to 50 at Annapolis Saturday but Norm Shepard, for one, is convinced the squad played its best game of the year against the Middies.

In fact, the new stating lineup forced upon Shepard by injuries so pleased him that he will use it against Boston College tomorrow night.

The big differences between the two teams were the speed and shooting ability of the Middies. Even though Shepard had his men pay special attention to Dave Mullaney, the Navy set-shot specialist still plunked in six long shots from outside of the Crimson's zone defense. The losers' shooting once again was only mediocre.

The zone defense worked well, and Shepard will probably continue to use it when he thinks it necessary. However, the Crimson did not work a fast-break off the zone very often, though the possibility of an occasional break was one of Shepard's main reasons for installing it. The Middies also took off a large number of rebounds considering the fact that a zone defense is supposed to be effective in placing defensive players under the backboards.

In the first half the Crimson held the Middies fairly well until the last few minutes, when the winners scored nine straight points, giving them a 39 to 20 half-time lead.

A tightened defense and more accurate shooting enabled the Crimson to pull within ten points in the next half, but Murphy, Dick Lionette, and Jim Gabler all fouled out, leaving the drive stranded. Even so, Harvard scored 30 points in the second half to Navy's 29.

Six foot five center Dick Lionette may not be able to play tomorrow against Boston College because of a "very bad cold" and brulsed feet. Lionette, the Crimson's high scorer all year, has been troubled by sore feet since the season began, and in the Navy game aggravated his condition.

The varsity summary: HARVARD (50)   g  f  p Gabler, f  3  3  9 Murphy, f  4  6  14 Bramhall  0  1  1 Urdan  0  0  0 Lionette, c  6  3  15 Switzer  1  2  4 Hansen, g  1  2  4 Hickey, g  0  1  1 Redmond  1  0  2 Lemay  0  0  0   --  --  -- Totals  16  18  50