Crimson Five Rips Engineers, 91-66 In Last Game Before Ivy Campaign

Harvard's basketball team bombed Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 91 to 66, last night in the IAB.

The game was the Crimson's last warm-up of the season before Ivy League competition this week-end. Despite the 25-point margin of victory, the win left few fans bubbling with wild optimism.

Harvard came out in a zone defense which baffled W.P.I, and enabled the Crimson to take an 18-4 lead after eight minutes had elapsed. The Engineers would pass the ball around for about a half minute to set up a play, and then invariably wind up trying a 30-foot fall-away jump shot. W.P.I. did not score from within 15 feet of the basket until ten minutes had passed.

Crimson Not Shining

The Crimson's performance during the runaway could not be termed dazzling, however; their defense and ball-handling frequently were quite shoddy.

The Crimson led at halftime, 46 to 26, and it was only the play of W.P.I.'s Bill Nims which kept the score moderately respectable. The 6-6 center scored 30 points, including 12 out of 15 free throw attempts. Harvard ran up its lead in the second half to 31 points, and the Engineers were not able to whittle it much even after coach Floyd Wilson had cleared his bench.

Overall, Harvard sank an excellent 55 per cent of its shots. Rhodes Scholar center Merie McClung scored 30 points, and Keith Sedlacek had 13. Although guard Gene Dressler scored a sub-per 10, his passing and ball-hawking set up a half dosen more baskets.

The Crimson's second string looked woefully inadequate as usual, but there were a couple of bright spots. Guard A.I Bornheimer scored 12 points (including six for six from the foul line); he has played very little this season, but he is a good outside shooter. And 6-6 Lyna Bennison, tallest man on the squad, seems to be developing. He is still somewhat awkward, but his rebounding and shooting looked much improved last night.

The Crimson's first Ivy games of the year will be played in the IAB against Columbia Friday and Cornell on Saturday.