Crimson Five Nip Brown, 65-60; N. I. T. Hopefuls at Yale Tonight

(Special to the CRIMSON)

PROVIDENCE, R. I., March 5-Three key interceptions and a 20-foot jump shot by captain Dale Dover in the last two minutes rescued Harvard from a poor-shooting second half and allowed the Crimson five to escape with a 65-60 win here tonight.

The victory assured Harvard, which now holds a 10-3 Ivy mark, of at least a second place tie in the league and kept alive any hope of a possible N. I. T. bid pending the outcome of tomorrow's game at Yale.

"It's the highest finish ever for a Harvard squad and that's what the boys and I really wanted most of all." coach Bob Harrison said at a post-game buffet presented by the Harvard Club of Rhode Island.

After a well-played first half Harvard turned extremely cold after intermission. Forced to take outside shots, the Crimson could hit on only 8 of 28 from the field and found its chance of a playoff berth fading fast.

In the final minutes, a combination of great defensive play by Dover and Jean Wilkinson, plus the Bruins' inability to retain possession of the ball for over four seconds without a turnover saved the Crimson.

"We should've won," Brown coach Gerry Alaimo said later. "Both teams tried to give the game up but Dover's shot that put them up by four broke our back. Let me tell you something. I don't care what anyone says. Dover is as valuable to Harvard as any player is to any team in the country. I mean it, he's some kind of a leader. You better believe he'll be missed next year."

Harvard's excellent performance in the first half was marked by penetration on offense which allowed the Crimson to hit 52.9 per cent from the floor. On defense, hustling man to man forced the Bruins into taking low percentage perimeter shots. This combination gave the Crimson a 40-30 lead at the half.

Individually for Harvard, James Brown had 12 points to lead the Crimson in the first half but even more impressive were Dover's phenomenal seven assists and Floyd Lewis's eight rebounds.

Unfortunately, the poor second half took its toll on these individual statistics too. Brown finished with 19 points for game high honors but he hit only nine of 25 from the field. Dover and Lewis also slacked off from their torrid first half pace and completed the night with nine assists and 10 rebounds, respectively.

The Bruins slowly cut into the ten point Harvard halftime advantage, and with 2:57 remaining, high-scoring Brown guard Russ Tyler hit his third straight jumper from the corner to tie the score at 58-58. The Crimson moved ahead to stay as James Brown added a free throw and a top of the key field goal.

In the meantime Dover and Wilkinson were making sure the Bruins never got the ball past midcourt. The Bruins never could recover and were forced to foul. "If we had been down by two we could've set up but behind by four all you can do is hope," Alainro lamented.