Big Green Drops Harvard In Agonizing 65-60 Loss

Harvard basketball tumbled into ignominy last night at the IAB. Following weekend losses to Penn and Princeton the listless, disorganized Crimson five suffered the ultimate Ivy League disgrace--a 65-60 loss to perennial cellar-dweller Dartmouth.

The Big Green from Hanover shot 60 per cent from the floor in the second half to clinch the decision, but it was Harvard's general incompetence that was the decisive factor.

Committing ten turnovers, missing half of its free throws, shooting only 38 per cent from the floor. Harvard scarcely resembled last year's sophomore-dominated outfit which held such great promise.

The star of last year's Harvard five, junior Chris Gallagher, turned in his best game of the season tonight, but his 19 point. 17 rebound performance couldn't save Coach Floyd Wilson's charges. Gallagher made 8 of 15 shots before fouling out with seconds remaining.

Vultures

The usual small crowd--including Athletic Director Adolph Samborski--watched in boredom as Harvard slogged to a 25-24 halftime lead. In one of the worst halves of basketball the IAB has ever seen. Dartmouth rallied from a 9-1 deficit only to fall behind on a Gallagher layup at the buzzer.

In the opening minutes of the second half. Harvard went ice-cold--not an unusual tactic this season. As the Crimson missed the basket for almost five minutes, Dartmouth captain Joe Colgan went on a spectacular scoring spree.

Over a five-and-one-half minute stretch, Colgan threw in five field goals, including two long jumpers from the corner, two tricky drives around Gallagher, and a short pop shot. When he sat down with his fourth personal foul at the 5:50 mark the Indians held a 37-29 advantage.

Brief Rallies

Harvard rallied briefly several times late in the half, the best spurt coming with about eight minutes left. Down 54-44, the Crimson got hoops from Jerry O'Neil and Gallagher. An Indian basket intervened but rarely-used backcourt man Eric Gustafson threw in a 22-foot set. Gallagher one free throw and Bobby Johnson two, bringing Harvard within four at 56-52.

But Henry Tyson scored a layup and Harvard's Jeff Grate inadvertently tipped in an errant Dartmouth shot, and the Harvard effort was smashed. Johnson and O'Neil did cut the lead to four again at the 1:48 mark: as usual, it was too little and too late.

The freshman game was a more pleasant experience for Harvard. With two seconds left in overtime and the game tied a frantic Dartmouth player grabbed a rebound and called time out. Unfortunately for the Pea Green, they had already exhausted their supply of breaks and instead of a rest got a technical foul. Harvard's Dave Finholt sank the technical and the Crimson won, 73-72. Dale Dover led the freshmen with 16 points.