Basketball Team Splits 12 Games In Early Season

With an even split in its first 12 games and the bulk of its League schedule ahead, the varsity basketball team can look with some hope and considerable caution to its remaining 12 contests.

If the squad can master the skill of playing well against two successive opponents, the Crimson fan might even think in terms of fifth place Ivy League finish.

Record Mediocre

To date, the varsity's record is a mediocre six wins, six losses. The team has divided six home games, four league games and two game series with Cornell, Middlebury, and Amherst. It has lost to comparatively weak teams, such as Bowdoin and Tufts, and beaten for the first time in many years relatively strong teams, such as Pennsylvania and Cornell. In short, the team has been erratic.

The team's performance against Middlebury was typical of its season's play. The Vermont school, known more for its skiing facilities than for potent basketball teams, came into the I.A.B. in mid-December and after 40 minutes of exceedingly dreary play, departed with a 50-46 victory. The same two teams met later the same month on an unfamiliar Colby College court. This time the varsity broke the New England Tournament scoring record, totalled no fewer than 100 points, and found itself the winner by 49 points.

Between such extremes are a number of highly respectable performances. The wins over Cornell and Penn showed that if the squad can gain consistently it can look forward to more than the usual two or three Ivy League wins per season. The victories over two less impressive foes--Amherst and Northeastern--demonstrated the team's ability to overcome a half-time deficit.

Haughey, Hastings Star

The most encouraging factor in the team's early season play was the scoring ability shown by juniors Phil Haughey and Bob Hastings. Haughey and Hastings saw considerable action last year but neither proved himself exceptionally strong as a scorer. This year both are averaging in double figures.