Frosh Five Stuffs Brown, Takes Eighth Win, 78-74

Yank Heisler, Bob Listenbee, Jack Purdy and Jerry O'Neil netted clutch points to carry the Harvard freshman basketball team to its eighth win of the season, 78-74 Tuesday night against Brown at the IAB.

With the Crimson holding a slim two point margin in the last two minutes, Heisler -- called Yank because he was born on the Fourth of July -- dropped in a pair of free throws. Then Purdy and Listenbee also canned a pair, and O'Neil chipped in a layup at the buzzer.

Ron Glass led the Harvard scorers with 18 points, O'Neil threw in his consistent 15, Bill McBride had 13 and Listenbee and Al Hall, 11 each.

This was Glass's second big scoring night of the year. In an early season loss to Boston College, the Ohio native bombed in 22, but for the most part he has specialized in a quick-handed defense.

Purdy, on the other hand, likes to pump up the outside jumpers. When the squad shellacked MIT, he scored 20 points -- his best.

In all but one of the 11 games, 6 ft. 4 in. cornerman O'Neil has come through with a double figure performance -- Coach George Harrison calls him the team's most consistent performer.

When jumping jack Ernie Hardy quit the team for personal reasons two months ago, Listenbee and Hall got a chance to play more than a few minutes a game. Listenbee stepped into the starting lineup and has turned into a dependable point-producer and, possibly more important, a fine rebounder.

Hall replaced rugged Bill McBride for a while--now they get about equal playing time. Both like to operate in the center: Hall has a sweet hook, McBride prefers to crash the offensive boards.

Heisler, like Glass, a fast, scrappy defender, usually plays as sixth man. The 5 ft. 9 in. guard was the 1966 Ohio junior golf champ and plans to try out for the Harvard freshman linksmen this spring.

The Freshman basketball team close the season against Andover, Exeter, Yale and an excellent Dartmouth team.