Harvard Cagers Drop Finale, Lose Thriller to Tigers, 80-79

With the Harvard basketball team trailing Princeton by one point and the last seconds of the game ticking off the clock, a Tony Jenkins jumper fell short and the Crimson dropped their final contest of a disappointing year, 80-79.

The loss, the second one-pointer suffered this year at the hands of the Ivy runner-up Tigers, set Harvard's season record at 14-12 and their Ivy League mark at a mediocre 7-7.

Jenkins' shot capped a two-minute helter-skelter drama during which the Crimson heisted the ball three times and looked like it was going to go out with an upset bang.

As the clock marked two minute Princeton's top scorer, Ted Manakas, missed on a forced 20-ft. shot, and the Crimson gathered in the rebound, moved downcourt, and narrowed its deficit to five.

Substitute Jean Wilkinson, playing in the last game of his collegiate career, then stole the ball from the Tigers and drove in for an easy layup and his first points of the game. Guard James Brown, also playing in his last Harvard contest, then intercepted an inbounds pass with 24 seconds remaining and repeated Wilkinson's feat.

Now down by only one point, the Crimson press worked effectively again, as Brown forced a bad pass and Wilkinson rolled the loose ball to Kenny Wolfe, who immediately called timeout.

On the inbounds play, Jenkins took a pass, and unable to see any open men, took his last-second shot from 20 ft. out. The buzzer sounded as it bounced off the rim onto the floor.

After the Crimson missed on what it hoped was the last shot of the first stanza, the Tigers' Manakas brought the ball down quickly and was almost forced out of bounds by Marshall Sanders. But he passed deftly to a teammate who dumped it in to narrow Harvard's lead to six.

Eight minutes into the second half, the Tigers took over the lead and then stalled the ball, forcing the Crimson to four for the ball.