Not so Surprising!

Dartmouth, 62-52 at Hanover, N. H.

Dartmouth (62)--Paul anderson 9-7-25; Brian Burke 5-3-13; Scott Schroeder 1-4-6; Rick Lewis 1-0-2; Tim Hassett 3-0-6; Joe Kilroy 2-2-6; Deverk Sells 0-4-4; Totals 21-20-62.

HARVARD (52)--Joe Carrabino 7-6-20. Greg Wildes 2-0-4; Ame Duncan 5-2-12, Ken Pluntnicki 1-0-2; Keith Webster 1-0-2; Bob Ferry 6-0-12, Totals 22-6-52.

Hathime: D, 23-16.

HANOVER, N. H.--Maybe it's the unfamiliar surroundings. Maybe it's the hostile fans. Come to think of it, maybe the seats on the bus are too close together, and the players' legs get cramped. It could even be the bag lunches traveling teams take on the road.

Whatever the reason, it's become mighty apparent that the Harvard men's basketball team is unable to win away from the cozy confines of Briggs Cage.

Considering that the Crimson has lost 14 straight away games, it didn't come as much of surprise when on Friday night in Hanover, the Cagers dropped number 15 in a row, this time bowing to Dartmouth, 65-52.

The crucial Ivy loss dropped Harvard's season to 5-7, 2-2 in the Ivies.

"We played terribly. It's the worst loss of the year, and I think we know that," Harvard Coach Frank McLaughlin said after his road show folded its tent just one more time. "It's the worst 40 minutes that I can remember."

Expect for a fleeting 2-0 lead at the start of the contest, the Crimson never seemed in control of its own game, and never did it pose a serious threat to the Big Green. Dartmouth quickly banged out eight consecutive points after the initial field goal, and perhaps the most surprising thing of it all was that the Crimson lost by only 10 points.

Frantic First Half

The first half was particularly distressing for the visitors, as the action on the floor could be described as nothing but frantic. Players would--oops!--pass the ball to where no one stood, or--even worse--into a congested lane filled only with guys in green. Missed lay-ups, over-the-back, and traveling violations plagued Harvard throughout the first 20 minutes.

And when the Crimson did get a chance to put the ball up in the first half, it usually didn't help a great deal--thanks to a pretty awful 24 percent shooting average. In fact, during one stretch, Harvard failed to convert a field goal for close to eight minutes. When the first-half buzzer finally sounded, the Crimson had only posted 16 points on the scoreboard, trailing--rather luckily--by only seven.

"We knew what to do, but we didn't do it. Hey, we didn't shoot," McLaughlin said.

During the second half, Harvard connected on its shots at a respectable 52 percent clip, but could never get back into the game despite the field goal improvement and a switch from zone to man-to-man defense.

The reason came in the form of big, brawny Dartmouth forward Paul Anderson, who duped his opponents with a display of offensive fireworks. He dunked, canned the long shots and the short ones, and showed an uncanny ability to draw Harvard fouls. On the evening he led all scorers with 25 points, 17 in the second half, pushing his team out in front by as many as 13 with just over 10 minutes to play.

Things got just a little exciting with 3:45 to go as the Crimson trimmed Dartmouth's advantage to only six points. But from that moment, Harvard became a little too eager, allowing Dartmouth to enjoy a spree of foul shots. When the Crimson found itself down by 15 with just under two minutes remaining, the game became academic.

Bumpy Road

"Our philosophy was to go out and avoid letting them have the easy baskets," Dartmouth Coach Reggie Minton said. "We knew that they were well coached and had good players, so we wanted to avoid their having free and uncontrolled shots."

Of the seven losses away from Cambridge this year only once has the Crimson come away--against Holy Cross--with less than a 10-point margin of defeat. Usually, the cagers fall behind right at the beginning of the contest and spend the rest of the game trying to play catch-up.

"There's definitely something to traveling," Minton said. "I really think it's something psychological. It's not only the fans. Our team thinks it can beat anybody it wants here at home on this court, but it's a completely different story on the road. Your confidence is not broken up a home and you're not as comfortable on the road."

The Harvard squad would probably agree.

THE NOTEBOOK: Junior Joe Carrabino paced the squad with a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds ... Bob Ferry and Arne Duncan contributed 12 pots each ... Harvard is out of action until January 30 when it hosts New York University. The squad gets a chance to break the string of road defeats' when it travels to Columbia and Cornell on February 3 and 4.