Cagers Drop 4th in a Row To Buckeyes

The Harvard basketball team lost to Big Ten and national power Ohio State Saturday night, but not before Crimson sophomore Dale Dover and his mates gave the Buckeyes a stern test.

With fifteen minutes remaining in the game, State held a 13 point lead, due mainly to the efforts of junior center Dave Sorensen and a series of damaging Harvard errors. Then Dover put on a personal scoring spree which cut the margin to four, 11 minutes from the end.

Harvard coach Bob Harrison identifies the next minute as the turning point in the game. State shot and missed, but two Crimson rebounders "played Alphonse and Gaston." Harrison said, and lost the ball.

A Buckeye was fouled, but again missed the shot only to have a teammate grab the rebound and score, upping the margin to six and blunting Harvard's momentum.

Harvard Gambles

After this exchange, Harvard had to press and gamble, making mistakes which Ohio converted into its final margin of victory, 89-74. Dover finished with 28 points, most of them on driving layups from his point position and nine in the four minute burst which almost propelled Harvard into a major upset.

Sorensen dominated the Buckeye offense, tallying 27 points on a devastating combination of graceful hook shots and close-in muscle plays. At 6-8, he overpowered most of the Harvard defense, especially after Crimson captain Bob Kanuth fouled out in the second half. With Kanuth gone, Sorensen dropped in two quick baskets to clinch the decision.

Harrison was pleased with his team's continuing progress. "We're still making mistakes at the wrong time; missing a key rebound or another assignment. But we've shown we can play with two teams [Ohio and Boston College] as tough as any we'll face the rest of the year," he said.

Forwards Chris Gallagher and Ernie Hardy gave Dover and Kanuth (13 points) strong support. Gallagher led Harvard with 11 rebounds, his highest total of the year, and scored eight points. Hardy held highly regarded Buckeye forward Steve Howell scoreless and tallied 14 himself.

Sorensen, who had 14 rebounds, got scoring help from Cleamons (12), Finney (19), Barclay (14) and Smith (10).

Harvard has now completed an unsuccessful four game road trip and returns home against Rutgers Friday night, seeking to get back in the winning way.