Crimson Cagers Dump Brandeis, 95-80; Sloppy Play Dominates Harvard Victory

The Crimson cagers travelled to Waltham, Mass., last night for a confidence-building clinic and walked away with an easy 95-80 win over the Brandeis Judges.

Short on talent, depth and finesse, the Brandeis squad offered only occasional resistance while displaying some of the slowest pairs of feet on the East coast. The hoopsters, who upped their record to 2-3, played complacently for most of the game, allowing the Judges to stay within striking distance, but the Crimson did explode for several bursts of superb offensive execution.

Last night's contest began sluggishly, grinding to an 8-8 stalemate after three minutes. The Crimson starters then remembered that warm-ups were over and casually netted 14 unanswered points.

Harvard guards Tom Mannix and Robert Taylor repeatedly hit forward Don Fleming for back door layups as the Brandeis defenders struggled to unglue their sneakers from the floor of Schapiro Athletic Center.

Not accustomed to the luxury of a double-figure lead, Crimson coach Frank McLaughlin got overconfident and replaced his five regulars with the second team after nine minutes. Highly-touted freshman guard Calvin Dixon and classmate Lamar Flatt, who is Harvard's one legitimate big man at 6-ft., 9-in., led the resulting mayhem. The subs put the ball everywhere but in the basket.

After seven minutes of Crimson turnovers and botched plays, Brandeis had cut the Harvard lead to five, 36-31. McLaughlin then hustled the first string back into action.

Not surprisingly, the Crimson stars played lethargically after their lengthy rest. Led by bulky center Eddie Lock, the Judges plodded to within one point.

Mannix and Taylor saved McLaughlin and themselves further embarrassment by hitting consecutive jumpers and reestablishing a health Harvard lead that grew to 51-40 by the half.

During their two stretches of solid play, the cagers displayed accurate shooting inside and came up with several steals off of an effective man-to-man full court press. Neither team bothered with much defense, relying instead on the fairly regular flow of turnovers.

Brandeis guards Gary Clay and Kevin McCann sparked the Judges' offense in the opening minutes of the second half, but Harvard co-captain Bob Allen, who played center last night, soon shut down a tiring Lock, and Brandeis lost its inside threat.

Fleming, who tallied a game-high 33 points, made up for his lackadaisical play on defense with deadly shooting and crisp passing. As a team, however, the hoopsters did not improve on their shoddy first period performance. The two teams traded baskets for the final ten minutes as Harvard maintained its 15-point lead until the buzzer.

THE NOTEBOOK: The cagers face regional rivals Boston College and Holy Cross over vacation and will take part in the Maryland Invitational Tourney beginning December 28 with a game against Temple in Maryland....The Ivy campaign gets underway in January when the hoopsters will visit the unfriendly foreign territory of Brown, Columbia, Cornell and Yale.