Cagers Drop Pair To Penn, Princeton

A blowout and a heartbreaker.

In short, that was the Harvard basketball weekend. Two games, two losses--both in league play--and the Crimson losing streak jumped from eight to ten straight.

It was a lethargic, sloppy Harvard team, still suffering from the after-effects of a 15-day Western roadtrip, which dropped back-to-back contests against Penn, Friday night, 103-77, and Princeton, Saturday night, 55-49.

PRINCETON 55, HARVARD 49

P--Mills 2 0-1 4; Olah o 1-3 1; Schmitt 3 0-0 6; Lewis 4 4-4 12; Melville 0 1-2 1; Blatt 2 0-3 4; Roma 5 2-2 12; Christel 6 1-2 13; Hilton 0 0-0 0; Young 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 23 9-17 55.

H--Mannix 2 0-0 4; Coatsworth 1 1-2 3; Allen 1 7-7 9; Hooft 4 3-5 11; Taylor 1 0-0 2; Fine 6 6-9 18; Fleming 0 0-0 0; Mundy 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 16 17-23 49.

Halftime--Princeton 31, Harvard 24. Att. 1250.

PENNSYLVANIA 103, HARVARD 77

Friday Night

P--Salters 3 0-0 6; Flick 1 1-2 3; Jackson 1 0-0 2; Price 10 3-4 23; Smith 10 1-2 21; White 7 0-0 14; Kuhl 1 2-2 4; Willis 9 1-2 19; Reynolds 3 0-0 6; Ross 2 0-1 2; Hall 0 1-2 1; Liefsen 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 47 9-15 103.

H--Mannix 5 0-0 10; Coatsworth 2 2-2 6; Allen 4 1-2 9; Hooft 3 2-2 8; Mills 0 0-0 0; Taylor 6 1-2 13; Fine 1 2-3 4; Mundy 1 2-2 4; Fleming 5 3-5 13; Trumbull 0 0-0 0; Sims 1 0-0 2; Clarke 3 2-2 8; Kohn 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 31 15-20 77. Halftime--Penn 43, Harvard 26. Att. 1400.

In both games, it was clear that the Harvard team was dragging. Against the talented Quakers, the Crimson started off their return to Ivy competition on the wrong foot. An experienced, slick Penn machine totally dominated Harvard, running the Crimson man-to-man defense ragged.

Harvard started out deceivingly well, guard Robert Taylor working with back-court mate Glenn Fine to keep the Crimson within two, and Taylor's jumper pegging the score at 9-7 five minutes into the game.

But New York City superstar Tony Price, a former schoolboy sensation at Taft, took control with his 20-ft. pop shots, en route to a 23-pt. night. The Quakers quickly ran off 12 unanswered points. As Penn got stronger, finding its shooting range, Harvard fell to pieces. The usually dependable Fine and Taylor lost their backcourt composure, committing 13 of Harvard's outrageous 30 turnovers.

A dismal 35 per cent field goal percentage in the first half sunk the Crimson beyond the point of return, and the capacity crowd was left wondering only if Penn could break the 100 barrier, which it did, with about a minute remaining.

For the 1250 fans who returned to the IAB Saturday night, the prospects looked much the same as Princeton, coming off a shocking 51-33 loss to Dartmouth the night before, ran up a fast 14-6 lead less than the midway through the first half. Tiger scoring leader Bob Roma did the heavy damage early on, swishing top-of-the-key jumpers like clockwork. But the Princeton zone dealt the most damaging blows, shutting off Harvard's offense.

"I told the guys the first three minutes was gonna decide the game," Crimson coach Frank McLaughlin said Saturday night. "It set the tempo. They got the quick lead, and we had to play their game all night."

A full-court, man-to-man press, which Harvard used from the start, proved erratic as Tiger forwards Neil Christel and John Lewis often broke free for layups.

But as the first half closed, the Harvard line-up, with sophomore Tom Mannix subbing for Taylor, showed its first real sparks of the weekend, narrowing the game to 37-24 at the break.

Co-captain Fine came back to the court on fire, closing the gap to 39-34 with fine outside jumpers. Just seconds later, a Mannix steal resulted in a Bob Hooft layup to tighten the score at 39-36, with 10 minutes remaining.

The tired Crimson five ran on adrenalin as the IAB crowd broke into uncharacteristic hysteria. With the band providing the beat, Harvard responded, Hooft sinking a five-footer and two foul shots, sandwiched around a Christel jumper, to close the gap to 41-40.

With the young Tiger squad looking distraught, Princeton called time out; and when play resumed, both the crowd and the Harvard team had lost the spirit.

Harvard hung tough for the next few minutes, trading foul shots with Princeton in a game that was chopped up by a total of 45 foul calls. But a Steve Mills whirlybird layup with 2:30 remaining spread the Tiger lead to five, 51-46, and Harvard--now 3-12, 1-2 in the Ivies--had nothing left with which to catch the weakest Princeton squad it's faced in years.