Cagers to Battle Holy Cross

The Crimson cagers, hardcourt heroes after their 78-63 upset over Brown Sunday night, will wander to Worcester tonight will visions of a third season victory to fatten their Christmas stockings, as the holidays begin.

The triumphant procession may be an abortive one, however. Holy Cross, supporting a front-line with an average height of almost 6 ft. 9 in., threatens to nail the Crimson to the backboards.

Crusader coach George Blaney will floor a roof-scraping squad, with seven footer John "Big Boo" Budris 6 ft. 9 in. high-post man Marty Halsey, and 6 ft. 5 in., three-year veteran Malcolm Moulton.

Junior guard Joe Carballeira, a transfer from Fordham, and defensive standout Doug Downey, a "walk-on" player last year, round out the Holy Cross quintet.

The Crusaders boast a 3-2 record this fall, including an 81-70 win over Dartmouth and a 91-85 second-half comeback victory over the University of Connecticut. Harvard squeaked by Dartmouth, 65-64, and dropped its home opener to UConn, 80-52.

Both teams lost to UMass: Holy Cross by five points, the Crimson by nine. Harvard hopes to counter the Crusaders' superior height and season record with the momentum of a weekend that defied all predictions.

Perfect League Record

Coach Tom Sanders's squad led highly-touted Boston College until the final minutes of Friday night's 68-65 heart-breaker. The Crimson then roared by a favored Brown team Sunday night, 78-63, to give themselves a 2-0 Ivy slate going into January's league action.

The consistent play of Lou Silver, averaging 18.7 points and a dozen rebounds per game, added to the improved play of Captain Tony Jenkins, gives Sanders a formidable, though less intimidating, front line to battle Blaney's giants.

Jenkins, who has poured in 14 points per contest, bounced back from a six-pointer performance against B.C., for a 20-point game that sunk the Bruins. Jenkins & sliver, Inc., outrebounded Brown, 25-16.

Fast-break Crusaders

The Crusaders, a fast-break, run-and-shoot ball club, will rely on the shooting of Moulton, Halsey, and reserve forward Dee, averaging 23.5, 12.5, and 15.0 p respectively.

Worcester's Memorial Auditorium former home of Bob Cousey, To Heinsohn, and Joe Mullaney, with capacity 3200 fans, "will be a lot like place we played in at UMass, crowded noisy," Sanders said yesterday. patented Sanders game plan, come with hard-nosed defense and ball control will be aimed at keeping the game in 60-70 point range, he said.