Northeastern Five Wins, 62-57, As Crimson Rally Barely Fails

Harvard basketball seems to be a matter of almost but not enough. Two weeks ago Harvard rallied from 25 points behind, but still bowed to Navy by a point. Last night, Northeastern frustrated another Crimson comeback for a 72-67 upset victory.

Bob Kanuth and Mickey Norlander sliced Northeastern's 24-point lead to three late in the second half. But Kanuth fouled out with 4:39 left, and the Huskies held on to win.

Harvard shot a miserable 25 per cent from the floor in the first half, and Northeastern, paced by ultra-quick guard Leo Osgood, raced to a 42-23 advantage.

But after five more minutes of sloppy play in the second half, Kanuth caught fire, 6'5" junior Chris Gallagher started to leap and, fortunately, the Huskies cooled off rapidly.

With 16 minutes left, and Harvard trailing 52-28, Kanuth his a twisting layup. Captain Bob Beller followed with a bucket off the press and then Gallagher dropped in a short jumper. The teams traded baskets for the next three minutes before Harvard put on a fantastic, pressing surge.

Kanuth, recovering his blocked shot, tried again and made the lay-up. Then Barth Royer, hustling and rebounding aggressively, threw in a long jumper.

Beller and Norlander contributed layups. Northeastern broke in with a pair of free throws, but Kanuth and Royer bagged jumpers, cutting the lead to 12 with 8:46 remaining.

Again, as the Huskie cheerleaders, baton twirler, and band outyelled the skimpy Harvard IAB contingent, the two squads traded points, for several minutes.

At the five-minute mark, Beller sank a line-drive jumper, Kanuth swished a long set from the corner and immediately fouled out trying to steal a pass, and Royer scored on a tap-in. Now ahead by only five, Northeastern got a free throw from its irrepressible gunner, Osgood. Then Norlander darted out, stole a pass, and went the length of the court for a basket.

Northeastern, however, managed to hold its slim lead. Osgood dribbled away the clock, dropping in free throws every so often. Harvard had one last burst--on Beller's free throw and Gallagher's tip-in--but the Huskies scored a sneak-away layup at the buzzer.

First Half Disaster

As in the Navy game two weeks ago, Harvard lost the game in the first half. The Crimson made only seven of 25 shots and was out-rebounded 22-12.

It was a little better in the second half. Gallagher got 11 of his game-high 15 rebounds, and Harvard shot 47 per cent from the floor. Northeastern made 41 per cent of its field goal attempts during the game.

Harvard, now 2-4, plays rugged M.I.T. Wednesday at the I.A.B.

The Harvard freshmen outlasted North-eastern, 91-79. Dave Finholt led Harvard with 25 points, followed by Joe Stanislaw with 18, and Dale Dover with 17. Harvard  Northeastern Beller  10  Wallent  3 Kanuth  17  Christopher  7 Norlander  17  Osgood  25 Gallagher  14  Modest  5 Royer  6  Field  14 Johnson  3  Chandler  9 O'Neil  0  Swett  2 Grate  0  Laudati  0 Constantino  7