Basketball Team Coasts To Win Against Amherst

The Harvard basketball team got ten points before a weak Amherst squad could score, and, despite a few periods of poor ballhandling and uninspired team play, the Crimson trounced the Lord Jeffs, 90-64, to win its second straight game Saturday night in the LAB.

Passing and running well during the opening minutes, the Crimson, though adding slowly to its early lead, never mounted the outburst that could have put the game away.

"We played what I call barn-yard basketball tonight," said coach Bob Harrison after the contest. I mean that through the middle of the game we just traded baskets with them. When you get ahead of a team like we did, that's the time you've got to stomp them," he explained.

Amherst, shooting a dismal 28 per cent from the floor in the first half, had to rely on its captain, Dave Auten, to do the scoring. Auten led all scorers with 29 points.

Harvard passed sporadically against the Amherst 1-3-1 zone defense. At times, the ball moved around the outside of the zone to the open man underneath. But at other times, the Crimson made long passes that allowed the Lord Jeffs to shift easily.

Harrison attributed some of the lack luster play to the psychological let down the team underwent after its 93-71 win over a good B.U. team last Thursday.

The Crimson, though unable to establish the clear control of the boards that it had in the B.U. game, still outrebounded Amherst, 48-42. Captain Ernie Hardy collected 17 rebounds while sophomore forward Brian Newmark added 11.

When the fast break worked consistently, as it did at the end of the first half, Harvard added to its lead quickly. But those times were infrequent, and the Crimson increased its margin over Amherst slowly.

For the fourth straight game, Harvard's guards paced the team in scoring. Junior Dale Dover, hitting 12 out of 17 from the floor, tallfed 25 points on twisting lay-ups and occasional jump shots. Matt Bozek, who leads the team in over-all scoring with a 21.5 average in four games, had 20.

The Crimson plays a powerful Northeastern squad tomorrow. Harrison was disappointed in Saturday's showing against Amherst because of what it augurs for that contest. "If we play like we did against Amberst, we're going to have a tough time beating Northeastern," he said.