Cagers Take on Big Green In Key Ivy League Contest

Tonight's game against Dartmouth in the IAB has do-or-die proportions for the Harvard basketball team.

The Crimson, 0-3 in the Ivy play, must defeat the Big Green tonight in order to maintain its hopes for a tie for the Ivy League Championship. An outright title is virtually out of the question for Harvard, but a tie is possible though unlikely.

String of 'Ifs'

If the Crimson defeats Dartmouth, Penn, and Princeton, and if Dartmouth upsets Penn and Princeton in Hanover next month, and if Penn tops Princeton in their rematch, then Harvard would tie for the championship, barring defeat at the hands of second division teams.

That, however, is a string of 'ifs.' And Dartmouth is the first in the string. It crushed the Crimson in Hanover last month, 86-68, and controlled every aspect of the game.

Jim Masker, the Green's 6-10 center, pounded the boards for 18 rebounds. James Brown, who leads Dartmouth in scoring with a 19.9 average in 12 games, had 24 points, and Bill Raynor, a sophomore guard, poured in 15-of-17 from the free throw line. Paul Erland, the Ivy League's leading scorer last year, let his team-mates do most of the work.

Lost Momentum

Since that game, Erland has picked up his pace and is now averaging 19.6 points per contest, but the team has lost some of its momentum. It lost to both Penn and Princeton two weeks ago, and enters tonight's game with a 6-6 record.

The Crimson, meanwhile, has had its difficulties, too. It has compiled a 7-7 record, and still hasn't developed cohesiveness in its offensive patterns. But several changes since Harvard's loss to Dartmouth last month will give the squad the edge in tonight's contest.

Identical Stakes

Floyd Lewis, who only played part of that game, is back at full strength, and with the personnel changes made by head coach Bob Harrison after the Dartmouth game, the team will be better able to thwart the Green's quickness.

The game must be rated a toss-up between two teams for which the stakes are the same--hopes for the Ivy Championship.