Penn Downs Crimson Cagers In Close Contest

The stall proved to be Harvard's downfall Friday and Saturday as the cagers lost two tight ballgames to Princeton, 71-70, and to Penn, 66-61.

With 4:58 remaining and Harvard leading 64-63 Friday night, coach Bob Harrison surprisingly ordered a stall against the Tigers. The Crimson held the ball for about a minute until substitute guard Mike Griffin was fouled. Griffin converted two free throws to give Harvard a 66-63 lead. Sophomore guard Tim van Blommesteyn came back to hit a short jumper for Princeton to narrow the gap to one, but Griffin returned the ball and drove in for a layup, giving the Crimson a 68-65 lead with 2.45 left. Tiger center Andy Rimol hit a jumper from the foul line, bringing the Tigers back to within one.

Stall

Harvard again tried to stall but Griffin lost the ball to van Bloommesteyn who hit Ted Manakas on a fast break. Manakas drove and put the Tigers ahead 69-68 with a lay-up. James Brown came back to put the Crimson up by one with a jump shot, but Manakas hit a 10 foot jumper to give the Tigers a 71-70 lead with 51 seconds left.

Harrison decided to play for one shot but Brown was called for charging with 13 seconds left and the Tigers ran out the clock.

Saturday night, with President Bok watching. Penn went into a freeze leading 63-61 with 2:50 left in the game. The Quakers held the ball for a minute and thirty seconds before forward John Jablonski got open for a lay-up. Brown came back to miss a jumper at the other end of the floor with about one minute left. Penn got the rebound, stayed in their stall, and easily held on to win 66-61 as Ron Haigler converted a foul shot in the final minute.

The big story of Saturday's game was the Harvard shooting in the second half. The Crimson shot a paltry 24 per cent in the second stanza after hitting at a 50 per cent clip in opening up a 39-32 edge at halftime. Tony Jenkins, who scored 16 points in the first half, was held to 4 points in the second period and James Brown, who notched 10 in the opening stanza, missed shots and was shut out entirely as Penn engineered its rally.

Chipping Away

Penn came out for the second half in a 3-2 zone and brought the score to 39-39 after two minutes of play. Jim Fitzsimmons, a fine shooter against the zone, returned to the Harvard line-up and hit for two quick baskets helping the Crimson to open up a 45-39 lead with 6 minutes remaining. From there on Penn played disciplined basketball, chipping away at the Harvard advantage until it pulled even and eventually opened a six point lead, forcing Harvard to play catch-up ball.

Sophomore guards were the major surprise for the opposition Friday and Saturday night. For Princeton, van Blommesteyn--who was averaging less than 6 points a game--hit for 15 points as both Jim Fitzsimmons and Gene Wilkinson tried futilely to stop him. Saturday night it was John Beecroft for the Quakers who beat his average by eight, scoring 14 points against the Crimson. Ron Haigler and Phil Hankinson shared scoring honors for the Quakers hitting for 16 points a piece.

Jenkins led Harvard's scoring Saturday with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Fitzsimmons was second high, scoring 14.

The high scorer Friday for the Crimson was forward Marshall Sanders who had 18 including 8 for 8 from the foul line. Jenkins was the second man, throwing in 16. Sanders, the leading rebounder, pulled in 9.