Princeton Tigers Embarrass Hoopsters

The whole scene was intensely Princeton. Mammoth, hollow, damp Jadwin Gym, where no Harvard basketball team has ever won. Well-orchestrated cheers performed by a smartly dressed crowd of 3000. Eight Bouncy, blonde-haired cheerleaders, who all looked alike. And flawless Princeton defense, which combined with a disciplined, well-coached set offense to blow the Crimson right out of this small New Jersey town, 72-48.

The loss is the Crimson's second in a row, and gives Harvard a 12-6 record overall, 5-2 Ivy.

Repeat

Just like Friday night's loss to Penn at the Palestra, the Crimson trouble Saturday evening was defense; Princeton had it, while Harvard's collapsed against the pressures of some very-hot Tiger shooting and precise passing.

Much of the 24 point victory margin can be explained with a quick look at shooting percentages. While Princeton shooters--most notably Steve Mills and Craig Robinson--sizzled the twines at a 29-47, 61.7 per cent clip, the Crimson took as many shots (48), but hit only a pitiful 37.5 per cent.

The Crimson managed to stay close throughout the first half-pulling to within two at 30-28 with 2:24 remaining.

Up to that juncture, the Crimson had stayed alive mainly with the impressive outside shooting of Tom Mannix, probably the finest pure shooter in the Ivies, who turned in 5-7, 14 point, first-half performance.

Robinson then hit two quick medium range jumpers to put Princeton up by six with 1:41 to go. Mannix poured in one of his bullet-like 25 ft. jumpers to close the gap to 34-30, but sixth-man forward Neil Christel put a 10 foot jump shot off the glass to restore the Princeton lead to six.

Still, as the Crimson settled down to play for the last shot in the half, coach Frank McLaughlin must have felt that his squad would be in pretty good shape going into the intermission, possibly trailing by four at 36-32, but certainly by no more than six, at 36-30.

No Luck

With about 15 seconds left in the half, a Crimson player put up a jumper from close-range, with Monroe Trout seemingly in position for the offensive rebound.

The shot didn't fall, however, and after a knock-'em down-scramble for the rebound--at least five players ended up on the floor--Princeton's Christel wound up with the ball and lofted a baseball throw to Mills, who sunk a fast break lay-up which brought the crowd to its feet.

The bucket put the half-time score at a disheartening 38-30, but more importantly, crushed the Crimson morale. Mannix, who took only one shot in the second half as the Crimson tried to go inside, said, "Tonight the most frustrating thing was getting behind like that. A six point lead for Princeton is like a 15 point lead for anyone else. If you make a mistake against them, you just know you're going to have to pay."

Turning Point

"I thought the turning point in the game was the last few minutes of the first half," McLaughlin said, adding that the Mills layup especially hurt the Harvard cause.

The second half, which opened with Christel hitting a 16-footer to extend the Tigers' lead to 10 and 10 straight Princeton points, was a further example of the hex which the city of Princeton holds over the Crimson hoopsters. No Harvard team has won in that town since the 1957-58 season, and Princeton has won the last 20 games between the two schools.

The Crimson return to the friendly IAB tonight at 7:30, when they face Nor-theastern, currently ranked third in New England.

HARVARD (12-5, 5-2) Harris 0 0-1 0; Fleming 5 2-2 12; Carrabino 2 2-4 6; Mannix 5 4-4 14; Dixon 1 0-0 2; Trout 1 3-4 5; 0 0-0 0; Plutnlckl 2 0-0 4; Taylor 0 0-0 0; Clarke 1 0-1 2; White 1 0-2 2; Mitchell 0 1-2 2; TEAM 18 12-18 48:

PRINCETON (8-8, 7-0) Melville 8 4-5 20; Robinson 7 0-0 14; Simkus 3 0-0 6; Ryen 0 2-2 2; Mllis 8 2-4 18; Chrlatel 2 4-5 8; Enderle 0 0-0 0; Blatt 0 2-2 2; Knapp 0 0-0 0; Mannlon 1 0-0 2; TEAM 29 14-18 72:

Harvard 30 18 48

Prinoston 36 34 72