Dartmouth Defeats Quintet, 68-61, Rallying From Deficit at Halftime

HANOVER, N.H., Jan. 4--The varsity basketball team began its 59th quest for the title it never has won--the Ivy championship--and lost to Dartmouth, 58 to 61, here tonight. The win was Dartmouth's first of the season.

After leading throughout the first half, the Crimson was worn down by the superior height of the Dartmouth team and the defensive shrewdness of Indian coach Boggie Julian.

Sparked by Gary Borchard, who ended the evening with 29 points, the Crimson took a five-point lead with 8:00 to go in the first half. Borchard hit four straight jump shots to break open what had been a close battle.

At this point, however, Dartmouth, led by George Ramming, came back to close the gap, but Borchard continued his hot streak to stretch the Crimson's edge to 24 to 26 with a few minutes remaining.

Steve Spahn, the jump-shooting Dartmouth backcourt ace, scored the last four points in the half to make the score Harvard 36, Dartmouth 34 at intermission.

Dartmouth Gains Lead

The two teams fought on even terms for the first five minutes of the second half. Then a jump shot by Ramming put Dartmouth into a lead it never lost at 44-42. The varsity drew within one point, 50 to 49, on a jump shot by Denny Lynch, but that was as close as it came.

In the second half, the rebounding ability of the husky Ramming and Dan Berry, both 6 ft., 6 in., counted heavily for Dartmouth. After Lynch's score, Dartmouth tailled 10 of the next 11 points to go ahead 60 to 50.

The only other Crimson player in double figures was Vern Strand, who contributed 10 points plus some valuable rebounding.

During Christmas recess, the Crimson played some of its best basketball of the season and finished third in the Down East Classic at Bangor, Me.

In the opening round of the eight-team tournament, the varsity swamped an out-manned Bates team, 75 to 51. Borchard led the scorers with 14, one more than Pete Kelley, who had his second straight game in double figures.

Playing a scrappy Rhode Island team in the semi-finals, the Crimson raced to a 33-26 lead at halftime and maintained most of its margin until about four minutes remained. Rhode Island, which eventually lost to Maine in the finals, then took the lead for the first time and held on for a 60-57 victory. Borchard tailed 12 points, Bowditch and Deering 10 each.

Crimson Tops Cornell

Meeting Ivy foe Cornell in the third place consolation game, the Crimson reversed the trend of the previous day, falling behind 44 to 34 at the half. Then coach Floyd Wilson inserted sophomore center Strand, and the varsity fought back.

With Strand performing mightily under the boards and Borchard popping from outside, the Crimson swept into the fore and piled it on to win by 11, 84 to 73. Borchard paced the team with 26 points, followed by Deering with 18, Bowditch with 12, and Strand with 11.