Crimson Cagers Split With Big Green

When it came down to the closing minutes, Harvard men's basketball Coach Pete Roby turned around to face the stands, waved his arms above his head and exhorted the crowd of 350 at Briggs Athletic Center to get in on the excitement.

A lot of last night's cager contest against Dartmouth had seemed familiar: the meager crowd, the deficit at halftime, the low shooting percentages.

But by the time Crimson center Bill Mohler slammed home a dunk with just 22 seconds remaining on the clock, the faithful at Briggs didn't need any artificial prompting.

Because by that time, one big difference from past cager contests was clear--Harvard was about to win.

Win for the first time in two weeks, win against a plausible opponent for the first time in a montl., and win against an Ivy league squad for the first time in almost a year.

In the process, the Crimson (now 5-13 overall, 1-5 Ivy) made up 19 points on the Big Green (5-11, 2-4) to drive to a thrilling 62-54 victory, breaking a seven-game Ivy losing streak dating back to a 77-64 triumph over Cornell last February.

"All year long, teams haven't stopped us--we've stopped ourselves," an elated Roby said after the game. "Tonight, they couldn't stop us, and we didn't stop ourselves. It's nice to get [a win] in front of the home fans, because we've been struggling."

But throughout the lackluster first half, the cagers were still immersed in the struggle that has characterized the '85-'86 season. Dartmouth coasted to a 31-22 lead over the first 20 minutes of play while Harvard shot a measly 29 percent from the floor.

Roby expressed the hosts' frustration when, midway through the half, he complained vehemently about a string of referee calls against his squad. The officials promptly socked him with a two-shot technical, to which he replied, "That's the first call you've gotten right all night."

In a startling pre-game move, Captain Pat Smith--who had started in a team-high 66 consecutive games prior to last night--was benched in favor of freshmen Neil Phillips--usually a forward--and Mike Gielen.

And while these changes, part of Roby's continuing crusade to shake up his wobbling corps, didn't amount to much in the opening period, they blossomed beautifully in the second.

Because seven minutes into the final stanza, with the Green up by 11, the Crimson started to play the kind of tight, confident basketball it has hinted at--but never quite sustained--several times over the past few weeks.

And spearheading the keyed-up Cantab effort were Phillips--the squad's leading scorer with 18 points, including 10 in the second half--and Gielen, who deftly coordinated the hosts' offense and defense from his point guard position.

With 13:42 left in the game, Roby called a time out. When the cagers took to the court again, Phillips was fouled--and smoothly sunk a pair from the charity stripe.

Harvard then switched on a tough full-court press and forced a Dartmouth turnover as the visitors' shot clock ran down to seven seconds.

Starting with Phillips' free throws, the Crimson embarked on an 11-2 streak, pulling to within just two points, 43-41, with 9:08 remaining.

Exciting, yes; conclusive, no.

Because the visitors quickly responded with three unanswered baskets, and the contest seemed destined to go the way of so many others in the past--a pseudo-comeback followed up by a disastrous relapse.

But last night was not just like any other night in the disappointing winter of '85-'86: outside, it was snowing, as it really should during a normal Cambridge February, and inside, the cagers were gearing up for an honest-to-goodness comeback.

The kind rarely seen this season.

The kind that ends in victory.

Harvard retaliated with a 10-4 spurt, capped by a nifty Kyle Dodson baseline shot to put the cagers on top for the first time since a short-lived 2-0 edge at the game's start.

And all along, the Crimson maintained its smothering defensive pressure, forcing repeated Green turnovers.

"It's been discouraging in the past when we work as hard as we do defensively and [the opponent] can sink shots from the perimeter," Roby said. "I think tonight was the best we've played on both ends of the floor in a long time; we kept up the defensive intensity and played error-free ball."

When Gielen--who had three steals on the night--swiped the ball from Dartmouth's John Bean and ran down the length of the court for an easy lay-up, the possibility of a win suddenly became a probability.

Freshman Jim Barton, the Green's leading scorer with 20 points on the night, sunk a shot from 16 feet to narrow Harvard's lead to one, 55-54, but the visitors never broke through the elusive 55-point barrier.

The Crimson racked up seven game-icing points, including the Mohler dunk and four points from guard Keith Webster--who finished with 14 on the evening. Harvard, 62-54 at Briggs Athletic Center

Dartmouth (54): Jim Barton 8-4--20; John Bean 1-0--2; Jason Lobo 0-0--0; John Mackay 2-2--6; Joe Kilroy 2-6--10; John Miller 1-0--2; Darin Maccoux 1-4--6; Gene Sims 0-0--0; John Rhine 1-0--2; Len Bazelak 2-2--6; Derek Bunting 0-0--0. Total 18-18--54.

HARVARD (62): Neil Phillips 5-8--18; Kyle Dodson 2-0--4; Bill Mohler 1-4--6; Mike Gielen 5-0--10; Tedd Evers 2-2--6; Pat Smith 0-0--0; Fred Schernecker 1-0--2; Keith Webster 5-4--14; David Lang 1-0--2. Total 22-18--62.

Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Harvard 17, Dartmouth 16. Rebounds: Harvard 36 (Phillips 9), Dartmouth 40 (Kilroy 10). Assists: Harvard 13 (Gielen 6), Dartmouth 11 (Kilroy 5). Dartmouth  31-22--54 Harvard  22-40--62

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