Harvard Cagers Take Two To Tie For Second-Place

Unleashing an effective fast break in two successive contests, the Harvard basketball team ran its way to wins over Yale, 115-98, and Brown, 95-80, this weekend.

Triumphs in these two games, both marked by strong second-half performances by the Crimson, pushed Harvard's winning streak to five games and its Ivy mark to 5-1, tied with Columbia for second place in the League.

Showing no negative signs of its two-week lay-off for exams, the Crimson poured in 25 points in the opening nine minutes against Yale for an eightpoint lead. Harvard's sophomore Floyd Lewis, who had 24 rebounds for the game, cleared the boards quickly to set up numerous fast break lay-ups.

Yale's two guards, senior Jim Morgan and junior Mike McLaren, hit hot streaks to narrow Harvard's advantage to 51-47 at half-time. Morgan, two-time All-Ivy, tallied 29 points and McLaren scored 26 to lead all scorers.

But Harvard's Dale Dover, playing one of his most inspired games of the winter, turned the tide in the second half. He directed the Crimson fast break, scored on twisting lay-ups, and hit jump shots to move the squad to a 66-55 advantage after five minutes.

Then a streak of rebounds, lay-ups and jump shots by Floyd Lewis broke the Elis' back, and the Crimson moved ahead 84-64. Lewis finished the game with 25 points, on ten-of-14 from the floor, while Dover contributed 26 points, including ten-of-ten from the free-throw line.

Run

"We finally got our running game going." said Harvard head coach Bob Harrison after the contest, which set numerous Harvard scoring records. "I don't know where the hell it's been all year, but we've been working on it in practice. And now we've got it," he explained.

The fast break worked again on Saturday night against Brown, and the results were about the same. The Crimson jumped to an early lead, out-scoring the Bruins, 25-15, in the first nine minutes, with Dover setting the pace again.

Brown's disciplined offense, which moved the ball to its two top scorers, Russ Tyler and Arnle Berman, slowed the game down and narrowed the Harvard advantage to 41-37 at the half.

But at the start of the second period, Dover took over. Within five minutes, the Crimson. spurred by Dover's seven points, went ahead by ten. 54-44.

In four minutes, with sophomore Marshall Sanders scoring on a lay-up and a jump shot, Harvard stretched its lead to 17 points and put the game out of the Bruins reach.

Dover, who became the second leading scorer in Harvard history with this past weekend's performances, scored on 11-of-19 field goal attempts and tallied 25 points. Sanders added 16 points on six-of-eight from the floor and grabbed nine rebounds before fouling out.

"The coaches have given me new confidence in my outside shot." Dover said after the Brown game to explain his improved play. "Besides that. I felt I'd let the team down by not playing my game, and if I'm going to play pro ball, I'm going to have to produce," he added.