Quintet Stuns Princeton, Ties for Ivy Lead

There is more than one basketball player in the Ivy League.

Sixteen hundred fans came to the IBA last night to watch Princeton All-American Bill Bradley put on a show, but when they left they were talking only about Keith Sedlacek, Merle McClung, and the rest of a brilliant Harvard team which had ripped the Tigers apart.

The final score--88 to 82--was relatively close, but the Tigers couldn't muster up more than a meow all night; Harvard jumped ahead 20-8, built up an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter, and then coasted home.

Play Penn Tonight

The upset elevated Harvard into a five-way tie for the Ivy League lead as the quintet approaches tonight's crucial contest with Penn.

Bradley had been touted as the basketball immortal, but if anyone had super-natural forces on his side last night it was Sedlacek. The Crimson's 6-1 sophomore guard sank 13 of 16 shots--most of them high, arching 20-foot jumpers--and scored 31 points, two shy of the all-time Harvard record.

McClung was almost as impressive: he hit 13 of his 18 lay-ups and short shots and chalked up 30 points. The Crimson team overall hit on an incredible 62.1 per cent of its field goal attempts.

Strategy Pays off

Coach Floyd Wilson's strategy to halt Bradley and Company hit the jackpot. In the first half scrappy Crimson guard Leo Scully covered Bradley, and the Nassau sensation scored only 13 points. During the second half Harvard unfolded a smooth-functioning zone, which forced the Tiger to shoot from outside. Bradley added 17 more for his output of 30, two below his average.

Bradley is certainly more than a figment of a good press agent. He connected on 11 of 22 shots; his passing and ball-handling were fantastic. In fact, they're probably too good--Tiger Coach Bill van Breda Kolff must wish that Bradley would shoot more and feed off less to his lacklustre teammates.

Harvard gave the Tiger a double-bar-related blast in the first few minutes of play. As the Crimson's alert defense capitalized on constant Princeton miscues, Scully and Sedlacek drove in for layups; McClung scored on a jumper from the side and two stuff shots With four minutes gone, Harvard led 10 to 3 and hadn't missed a shot.

Crimson Holds Lead

After 10:05 had elapsed, the Crimson was sitting comfortably on a 24-10 cushion. Their lead caromed between 10 and 15 points during the rest of the half, and Harvard took a 44-31 margin into the dressing room.

Crimson fans however, were still expecting the deluge. Bradley generally lets his teammates get some practice in the first half before he settles down to business. (Two weeks ago he scored 37 in the second half against Cornell.) And many of the spectators were old-timers who had seen the heyday of the Harvard tradition of blowing 'on in the clutch.

But four minutes after play resumed, the Crimson had extended its lead to 17 points sad it became obvious that one of the greatest triumphs in the 63-year history of Harvard Basketball was imminent.

Ralty Falls Short

Princeton made one serious threat early in the fourth period. Trailing 64 to 40, they whittled Harvard's lead to 68-57 in two minutes. At this point Bradley drove in and bucketed a dazzling layup, which would have out the lead to nine, but the All-American was called her charging and the two points nullified Van Breda Kelff had conniptions on the sideline, and the look in Bradley's eyes meet have resembled the expression of the Boston Strangler when he has a nylon stocking in his hand.

The debatable call deflated Princeton's rally, and Harvard opened the lead to 72-00 in short order, then sailed home. Van Breda Kolff conceded defeat with two minutes to play by removing Bradley, and the Crimson closed the game using its second team, as Princeton shaved the margin to six points.

Tonight Harvard will try to hold on to its share of the Ivy lead against Penn. The Quakers are tough, and their fast-breaking brand of offence is the type which gives the Crimson headaches.

Penn has a well-balanced attack featuring 6-2 Stan Pawlak, who is averaging 16-9; fiery, sharp-shooting guard Ray Carazo; Jeff Neuman, a smooth back-court man who can dribble the ball between his legs; and John Hellings, a (gulp) 6-3 sophomore center.

The Crimson's performance last night could have thrown a fright into any team in the country; this evening against Penn the Key problem will be to avoid the effects of a let-down. At any rate, they'd better leave those extra 300 seats up in the IBA. Harvard basketball may have won quite a few converts yesterday