Cagers Hang On to Edge Brown, 64-63

Providence. R.I.--Whoever conceived the idea of the home court advantage should have been here last night. After dropping four straight contests in the IAB, the Crimson cagers stormed into Marvel Gym and sneaked away with a 64-63 triumph over Bruins' Ivy championship hopes.

Harvard had compiled what appeared to be an insurmountable 64-55 advantage with just 1:15 remaining on the clock. The Bruins, however, staged a furious comeback, which was halted one point short by the final buzzer.

The Harvard team, which was victorious for the eight time this season, bore no resemblance to the squad which had played to pitifully in its recent contests. From the dazzling red road uniforms for the great all-around team performance the Crimson proved that when it wants to it can play on equal terms with any Ivy League team--Penn excluded.

Harvard took its first lead of the game at 6-4 and managed to retain it throughout the contest. As it had in its first encounter against Brown, the Crimson played exceptionally well in the first half and led 30-27 at intermission

Crimson Refuses to Let Up

Last night, though, the Crimson refused to let up. With Bill Carey dominating the backboards 113 rebounds and Britain Banks putting on perhaps his best display of the season, it outhustled the Bruins throughout the second half to event its Ivy record at 5-5.

For Banks, the performance was especially gratifying. Although he was outscored by Brown's outstanding pivot man Phil Brown, 25 to 19. Banks proved dominant under health and led the Crimson's scoring. In addition, he pulled off at least half a dozen Bill Russell defensive gems, including one stretch near intermission when he blocked three successive Bruin shots.

Banks was hardly the lone Harvard star Mike Griffin played a great game as the Crimson floor leader, accounting for 14 points, many off-balance shots which somehow found the basket.

Most importantly, however, Harvard's game excluded the mistakes which had proved so costly in past performances. The cagers held onto rebounds, refrained from throwing the ball away, and allowed Brown to miss the open shots which usually cost a team victory.

Tense Closing Seconds

Despite the strong overall performance, the Crimson had to hang on for dear life in the closing seconds. Things were apparently safe with 75 seconds left, but two driving layups by Dave Raila and Phil Brown threw the crowd margin to one.

At that point, just one second showed on the overhead clock...for Brown, it was wait until next year.

For Harvard, on the other hand, the victory meant a chance to close out the season on a wining streak, as the Crimson now faces four teams which it has already defeated once this year.