'D' the Key in M. Hoopsters' Victory Over Hartford

The Harvard men's basketball team and Rodney Dangerfield have one thing in common: they get no respect.

But last night the Crimson restored its pride last night by downing the Hartford Hawks, 65-58, at Briggs Cage, regaining some of that long lost respect.

The Crimson's triumphant performance raised its record to 2-14 (1-3 Ivy). Hartford fell to a dismal 3-14.

"We relaxed and played well," Coach Frank Sullivan said. "We dug in defensively and that carried us."

Much Closer

This contest was much closer than the seven-point margin suggests. With four minutes left to play, center Mike Minor drained a clutch three-pointer to put Harvard up 56-54.

At the 1:27 mark, Ricardo Roderick sank one free-throw to pull the Hawks within one, 56-55. Five consecutive points from the charity stripe gave the Crimson a 61-55 lead.

A trey by guard Jack Ayer shrank Harvard's lead to only three, but four free-throws by guard Jared Leake put the game away.

"We came out at halftime ready to win," forward Peter Condakes said. "We sustained that desire and we got the victory."

The Crimson's defense was impressive, holding Hartford to only 45 percent shooting from the field. Coupled with that were 12 steals and two blocks.

"Every good team has a great defense," guard Tyler Rullman said. "It has been the one bright spot this season."

Few Turnovers

One of the keys in Harvard's 45-point second half was the relative lack of turnovers. The Crimson limited its mishaps to only six turnovers and managed nine assists.

"It was impressive playing man-to-man defense successfully for as long as we did," Sullivan said.

Rullman paced Harvard with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including two from three-point land.

Condakes tallied 13, while grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Leake added 11 points.

Team Player

Captain Ron Mitchell was the consummate team player, snagging nine boards and dishing out a career-high six assists. Minor came up big with nine points, including three crucial buckets in the last eight minutes.

The Crimson dominated the boards, outrebounding the Hawks 38 to 25.

Hartford's star center, 6-ft. 11-in. Vin Baker, clearly dominated the Hawks offense, scoring 24 points and crashing the glass for nine rebounds. The only other Hartford player in double figures was Roderick with 14.

"It's an understatement to say that this is a big win," Sullivan said.