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Crimson Quintet Faces Strong Tigers Tonight

By Richard Cotton

Harvard has never won the Ivy League basketball championship in the 50 years of the league's existence, and even the Harvard Athletic Department's press releases admit that this year's team probably isn't going to break that time honored tradition. In fact, the team may not gain even a first-division finish.

On the other hand, Princeton has topped the league eight times in the past, and now appears headed for its ninth championship--its third in the last four years.

There really isn't much more to be said about tonight's contest at Princeton. Coach Floyd Wilson sees his team as a spoiler, but unhappily the Tigers are not about to be spoiled by anyone, let alone the Crimson.

Sporting one of the finest players in the country and the Ivy League's leading scorer in sophomore Bill Bradley, the Princeton quintet has developed into one of the strongest contenders for Ivy laurels. Last weekend, it downed both Yale and Brown. This weekend, it will add Harvard and Dartmouth to its list of victims.

The phenomenal Bradley, who has averaged 26.6 points per game in Ivy competition, recently sank 21 free throws in a single game to set an Ivy mark. He was named Ivy Basketball Player of the Week for his performance is the victories over Yale and Brown.

Tiger captain Art Hyland ranks sixth among the Ivy's leading scorers, shooting at a 13.7-points-per-game clip, and is a fine playmaker. Joining Hyland at guard will be Chuck Berling, who returns to the lineup after a semester's ineligibility. Berling scored 17 points against Brown, and aided Bradley in controlling the boards.

Against this formidable array of talent, Wilson will send his usual five. Harvard is the inly Ivy team without a representative on the list of ten top scorers, but then this gives the Crimson a "balanced" attack. In seven league contests, six different players have taken game scoring honors, although no one has broken the 20-point barrier.

In fact, only one person on the team is averaging double figures over the full schedule. Dennis Lynch has hit for a 10.0 average and needs only 11 points to join the list of Harvard's top 10 career scorers. He could do this tonight, and if he does, it will be the one bright spot in the evening for Crimson fans.

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