Men Cagers Top Yale; Gielen Explodes, 89-68

The start of the second semester has been very instructive for the Harvard men's basketball team.

After Tuesday night's heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Dartmouth, the Crimson was taught that you can't count on lucky breaks to win close games.

The cagers, always good students, learned that lesson well and figured out that you don't need lucky breaks if you just beat the heck out of your opponents.

And Harvard did just that this weekend.

The Crimson earned its first "A" with an 89-68 trashing of Yale Saturday night in front of 1800 fans at Briggs Cage to complete a weekend sweep. Harvard had topped Brown Friday night, 77-64.

The Crimson win--Harvard Coach Pete Roby's first against the Elis--snapped Yale's five game winning streak against Harvard.

"I told the guys that if we didn't come out hard, we'd have wasted the effort against Dartmouth," Roby said.

By toppling the Bulldogs, Harvard (3-3 Ivy League) climbed into sole possession of fifth place in the Ivies while Yale (2-4) fell to sixth. With the squad's toughest games--Dartmouth and Cornell at lthaca--over, the Crimson (8-10 overall) should start to climb in the standings.

"Once we got through our non-league schedule, we felt that there was no one who could beat us if we played well," Roby said.

The biggest hero for the Crimson Saturday was Tri-Captain and point guard Mike Gielen, who fired in a career-high 30 points. The junior--who shot 8-for-13 from the field and hit 10-of-11 from the line--also grabbed seven rebounds for Harvard.

"He was playing well in practice all week, so I knew he'd play well this weekend," Roby said of Gielen. "He was fantastic on the court. I'm really happy for him."

Gielen wasn't the only Harvard player on the court who was fantastic, either. For the second consecutive outing, four Crimson players scored in double figures.

Junior Neil Phillips--who beat Yale earlier this year on the gridiron--netted 14 of his 19 points in the first half to help the Crimson jump to a 40-26 halftime lead. Freshman guard Ralph James fired in 16 points, for Harvard, while Tri-Captain Bill Mohler added 12.

James, the Crimson's leading scorer and rebounder, was held to 5-for-13 shooting and was the recipient of numerous double-teams.

"I think teams are starting to recognize that Ralph is a force," said Phillips, who had six steals against Yale. "Defenses are more aware of him, trying to help out, and Mike and I havebeen getting wide open-shots."

"Harvard's playing really well now," Yale CoachDick Kuchen said. "Gielen played a great game, andJames and Phillips were excellent."

Senior guard John Rice and senior center EricMitchell had 17 points apiece to lead theBulldogs. Mitchell also nabbed 13 rebounds,included 11 offensive boards.

The Crimson jumped out of the blocks runningand never looked back. The squad held early 13-5and 22-10 leads and turned the game into a quickblowout.

Harvard hit five of its eight three-pointattempts in the first half to extend its lead. TheCrimson patiently worked the ball inside andoutside and frequently found Gielen and Phillipsopen for corner jumpers.

"We're doing a better job of getting the ballinside," Roby said. "It's easier for Gielen to gethis shot off it the other team is worried aboutthe post game."

Defensively, the squad boxed out well early onand kept the Elis from getting an offensiverebound in the first 10 minutes of play.

The failure to get second shots combined withthe poor shooting of last year's first-teamAll-Ivy star Paul Maley (6-for-23 from the field)kept Yale from staying close.Harvard freshman guard RALPH JAMES