Crimson Basketball Team Tops Wesleyan Five in Opener, 61-37

MIDDLETOWN, Conn., Dec. 5--An oft-erring, but fast, tall and aggressive varsity five completely overpowered an overmatched Wesleyan team tonight, to win its opening game of the season, 61 to 37, at the Alumni Field House.

The Crimson height continually controlled both backboards, and a pressing man to man defense forced its smaller opponents to hurry their shots.

The varsity scored 20 field goals from inside the keyhole, while Wesleyan was held to only two.

The game broke wide open in the second half, as the Cardinals were held scoreless for over ten minutes. In this time the Crimson tallied 17 straight points to take a commanding 53-28 lead.

The varsity opened slowly, feeling its way about the court. After four and a half minutes, Wesleyan led, 3 to 2. A moment later, guard Dick Hurley scored a field goal to put the team ahead.

The slow pace continued until past the ten-minute mark in the half when the score stood at 13 to 8. Then the varsity capitalized on its control of the back-board to pull away. From Coach Wilson's outside weave pass pattern, more shots were attempted with the knowledge that center Ike Canty and forwards Dick Woolston and Monk Muncaster could control the rebounds. Wesleyan's only tall man, John Watson, a 6-5 center, left the game with four personals after 11 minutes.

The Crimson ran the score to 19 to 8 on consecutive baskets by Hurley before pressure subsided and substitutes entered the game.

Wesleyan narrowed the margin to 25 to 20 before the starters returned. Muncaster tallied five quick points and Canty two to register a 32-20 half-time margin.

The second half also opened slowly with each team scoring only eight points in the first ten minutes of play. Wesleyan's offense then completely collapsed, and it did not score for a stretch of ten minutes while the Crimson sewed up the contest.

Despite sloppy ball-handling and shooting, the varsity was never in trouble. Wesleyan could not keep up with the fast-breaking quintet when it chose to run, or with the slow, calculating five when it chose to play control ball. After the margin mounted to 53 to 28, substitutes entered to add the final points with