Cagers Vanquish DePaul, Drop 5 Vacation Games

With strong rebounding from its forward line, the Crimson basketball team tallied 12 straight points midway through the second half to pull ahead of DePaul University Saturday night in Chicago. Harvard held its lead to win, 90-84, and finish an otherwise unsuccessful holiday schedule.

The Crimson, who are now 4-7, lost five earlier vacation games, two of them to nationally-ranked teams, fourth-place North Carolina and 13th-place Jacksonville.

"My boys gave a good accounting of themselves and of Ivy League basketball," said Harvard coach Bob Harrison, "but I though we would play better than we did."

Able to fast break effectively because it controlled the boards, the Crimson led DePaul 43-41 at half-time. The Demons, 7-2 prior to the Harvard game, tied the score with 12 minutes to play. Then the Crimson burst to a 12-point advantage on the strength of three field goals by junior guard Dale Dover, who led all scorers with 27.

Harvard held on to win even though sophomore guard Matt Bozek, who finished with 20 points, and reserve guard Joe Stanislaw fouled out.

"I think that playing in the Carolina Tournament made the difference." said Dover. "We played two really fine teams closely there, and it finally dawned on us that we could play with anyone," he said.

More Snatch

The Crimson grabbed 12 more rebounds than DePaul. Eruie Hardy, who also had 15 points led the reboundlers with 15, and sophomore forward Brian Newmark, who scored 16 points, had 13 rebounds. Center George Yates, playing his best game to date, contributed 12 rebounds.

Plagued by a low shooting percentage, Harvard fell to Rutgers in New Brunswick, 89-72, on Dec. 19.

The Crimson ontrebounded the Scarlet Knights, but shot only 31 per cent from the floor to Rutgers' 50 per cent. Junior guard Bob Wenzel paced the Knights with 24. Dale Dover, who scored 23 for Harvard, twisted his ankle and missed the next two games.

Jacksonville, basketball's tallest team-7'2" at center and 7' and 6' 10" at the forwards-handed the Crimson its fourth loss of the season. 103-64, on Dec. 22.

Holding One's Own

"We held our own for about ten minutes," said Harrison, "but then those big men started playing patty-cake under the basket, [Center Artis] Gihnore is a one-man gang."

Gilmore dominated the game with 29 points, 26 rebounds, and 16 blocked shots. With its big men controlling the boards, Jacksonville worked its fast break frequently to run up the lop-sidel score.

Without Dover, Harvard's scoring potential was cut and its game plan-getting down the floor quickly ahead of the big men-frustrated. Forward Ernie Hardy collected 17 points for the Crimson.

Harvard played well for one half against the University of Florida in Gainesville the next night, but a cold shooting streak by the Crimson and a 39-point performance by Florida's Andy Owens gave the Gators a 95-75 victory.

Ahead by as much as seven during the first half, Harvard fell behind by five at the half. The Crimson had difficulty fast-breaking without Dover, and couldn't regain the lead. Bozek scored 16 points and Hardy added 14.

"We should have run them off the floor," said coach Harrison. "But when you lose a guy like Dover who can really fly, it's a lot tougher."

Harvard drew North Carolina in the first round of the Carolina Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30. The Crimson played close to the undefeated Tar Heels until a three-point play gave them a ten-point margin early in the second half they never relinquished, North Carolina won that game, 92-74. and the tournament by topping Bowling Green.

Balling Errors

Led by All-American guard Charley Scott, who scored 23 points, and forward Bill Chamberlain, who tallied 29, the Tar Heels forced several Harvard ball-handling mistakes. Even though the Crimson out-rebounded North Carolina, Harvard couldn't match the Tar Heels in shooting percentage or in bench strength.

Matt Bozek, who led all scorers with 30 points, was selected to the All-Tournament team. Dover, returning to the line-up after being out for a week, added 23.

"We outrebounded them and outran them." said Dover, "but a few bad turnovers at crucial times hurt us. They had a lot more depth than we did, especially at the guards."

In the consolation round of the tournament, the Crimson had a poor shooting night again and lost to a strong Southern Illinois team, 100-89.

The Salukis, 6-2 so far this winter, shot 54 per cent from the floor to Harvard's 32 per cent, but the Crimson led for most of the first half.

Straight Shooter

"If we'd shot better we could have beaten them," said coach Harrison. "They had a hot night, and were taking [25-foot] shots that would have been three-pointers if we had been playing by ABA rules,"

Harvard tied the game at 70-70 midway through the second half, and with three minutes to go Southern Illinois hit five baskets in a row to put the game out of reach for the Crimson.

Dover led his team with 25 points, while Newmark. with his best scoring effort this season, added 19. Captain Ernie Hanly had 18 tallies.