No Upset This Time: Harvard Avenges '91 Loss to Babson with 80-64 Victory

The Harvard's men's basketball team has won more games in the last three days than the Crimson hockey team.

The Crimson defeated previously unbeaten Division III power Babson College last night, 80-64, at Briggs Athletic Center to end a two-game losing streak.

The hockey team, on the other hand, hasn't played since Saturday.

Still, the win was significant for the Crimson. It snapped a two-game losing streak, which included a 96-57 thrashing at the hands of Boston College, and avenged the Beavers' shocking 100-80 win over Harvard last season.

"This win was particularly nice in light of the loss to them last year," Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said. "Last year we weren't prepared for them at all, but this year we studied them hard and came better prepared. It paid off."

Babson Coach Serge DeBari said he didn't think Harvard was going to allow another upset in Briggs. "They played a lot better this year. They were better prepared, and, I think, they are just a better team. I was impressed," DeBari said.

Babson started the game quickly, scoring the first four points and establishing a 7-3 lead just one and a half minutes into the game.

The Crimson came back to tie the game at seven on a couple of foul shots by sophomore James White and a smooth lay-up on the left side of the basket by junior Tarik Campbell.

After that the teams traded buckets until, with 14:19 left in the half, Travis Gilmore hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Crimson up 18-15. It would never look back.

Harvard went into the half with a 38-26 lead.

No Rest

Despite the lead, the Crimson was assuredly not resting easy during intermission. In last year's loss, Harvard was up by three at the half, only to end up losing by 20 to the Beavers.

"Last year they sort of dazzled us in the second half with their pass-and-move strategy," Sullivan said. "They do that probably better than any other team in any division and we just weren't ready for it.

"This year we were determined not to let that happen again," he added. "We weren't going to let up."

Harvard opened up the second half by scoring seven of the half's first eight points to take a commanding 45-27 lead.

Throughout the rest of the game, the Crimson would extend the lead to 27 points, but Babson, unbowed, nibbled the lead down to 16 when the final buzzer sounded.

Although happy with the win, neither Sullivan nor his players were completely satisfied with the team's play.

"During the first half we seemed to be a little tired," sophomore guard James White said. "We weren't playing as hard as usual and we were even with them.

"The second half, though, was a lot better. We picked up the pressure on our defense a little bit, and our offense improved."

The increased pressure in the second half produced more skin-on-skin action than a Madonna video. Collectively, the two team committed 31 second-half fouls.

"We played them physical, that's for sure," Sullivan said. "I thought we did a good job of applying the pressure. We forced them to do some things they didn't want to do."

The Crimson was led in the game by Captain Tyler Rullman, who tallied a quiet 23 points.

White Makes Noise

Of any Harvard player, White was probably the noisiest. After getting off to somewhat of a slow start this season, averaging only six points in the first three games, he tallied 17 points, including a couple of impressive dunks.

The sophomore made some nice defensive plays, garnering five steals in the contest before fouling out.

"James did a nice job for us tonight," Sullivan said. "Like the rest of the team, was a little disappointed with his play in the first half, but he really got on the right track in the second."

HARVARD, 80-64 at Briggs Cage Harvard  38  42  --  80 Babson  26  38  --  64

FG: Harvard--Rullman 9, White 7, Carter 6, Campbell 2, Gilmore 2, Morris 2, Llopis 2, Rankin 2; Babson--Lahiff 6, Dellasanta 5, Richards 3, Beaulieu 2, Manning 1, Leip 1, St. Martin 1, Palmer 1. 3-pts: Harvard--Rullman 2, Gilmore 1; Babson--Lahiff 4, Manning 1, Dellasanta 1. Pts: Harvard--Rullman 23, James 17, Carter 12, Campbell 10, Gilmore 5, Arturo 5, Morris 4, Rankin 4; Babson--Dellsanra 17, Lahiff 16, Richards 8, Beaulieu 6, Xerras 5, Manning 4, Leip 2, St. Martin 2, Palmer 2, Luongo 2. Blk: Harvard--Llopis 2, Kubiak 2; Babson--St. Martin 1.

Halftime: Harvard, 38-26