Yale Downs Varsity Five, 82-71; Harrington Ends Career With 27

In a five minute stretch midway through the second half of last night's contest at the I.A.B., favored Yale outscored the varsity, 13 to 1, thus turning an extremely close game into an 82-71 Eli triumph. George Harrington, closing out his brilliant career, led both teams with 27 points, outscoring Yale's ace, Larry Downs, by three.

It took superb shooting from the outside to keep the Crimson in the game, for the Elis were taking almost all of their shots from inside the keyhole, and getting fouled on many of them. In fact, the Crimson tanked two more field goals than the visitors, but fell down at the foul line where Yale held a 26-11 advantage.

Varsity Takes Lead

Good fast breaks and accurate shooting sent the varsity out to a 15-6 lead. Sparked by the speed and aggressiveness of Mike Donohue, who capped the early spurt with a beautiful three-point play, the Crimson remained in front until Downs tied it up at 21-all.

The varsity went back ahead as Bob Bowditch, 6 ft., 1 in., out-leaped Eli giant Gerry Glynn (6 ft., 10 in.) to deftly tip in a rebound, but the visitors again knotted the count. For the remainder of the half, both teams traded baskets, with Donohue feeding Harrington for three lovely set shots. On the strength of four last-minute points by Dan McFadden, however, the Bulldogs gained a 41-39 halftime advantage.

Two free throws by Downs and a tip by Glynn gave Yale a 45-39 lead at the outset of the second stanza, but with Harrington showing the way, the varsity came back to go ahead, 51 to 48, at the 4:40 mark. Bombing away from up to 35 feet, the 5 ft., 7 in. guard hit three quickies to bring the Crimson within one point, and then Captain Bob Repetto scored on a jump shot and a hook off Downs for the lead points.

The squads battled evenly for three minutes, but Yale's superior rebounding finally took its toll on the tired Crimson, as the Bulldogs sprinted to a 69-58 advantage with seven and a half minutes left.

Switching from its 2-1-2 zone into a full-court press, the varsity climbed to within 7, and then 6 points of the Elis. But on too many occasions a Bulldog strayed from his defender to score on an easy lay-up, and Yale held on to the lead. With a minute to play, the Elis led, 80 to 68, and realizing that it was all over, coach Floyd Wilson replaced his starters, who received a well-deserved ovation.

For the varsity, Donohue with 15 and Repetto with 10 joined Harrington in double figures.

The loss gave the Crimson a 4-10 League record, and a 10-25 overall mark. Dartmouth and Princeton tied for the crown, as the Indians trounced Brown, 74 to 63, and the Tigers edged Penn, 61 to 60. They will play off for the NCAA berth Saturday night in New Haven.