M. Cagers Slip Past Babson

It wasn't pretty, but they'll take it for now.

The Harvard men's basketball team officially opened its season Saturday at Briggs Cage with a 67-62 win over Babson.

The undersized Babson squad (3-1) plays in Division II and was not expected to pose much of a challenge to Harvard (1-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy), but only some inspired defense at the end of the contest sealed the Crimson victory.

"They played extremely well, and you have to credit them for that," captain Tarik Campbell said. "We didn't get out and execute like we wanted to, especially in the first half, and they took advantage of our sluggishness."

All of the Crimson players stayed in Cambridge over the weekend, even practicing on Thanksgiving, but that didn't prevent them from playing a horrendous first half Saturday.

The two teams headed into the locker rooms at halftime tied at 23 apiece. Harvard, for its part, shot only 44 percent from the field, including 0-6 from three-point range, and made only one of 11 from the foul line.

"It was our first game of the year, and their fourth, and we were still working out the kinks," said sophomore Mike Gilmore, who started at small forward.

"They had everything to gain by beating us, and very little to lose," Gilmore said. "It showed in their intensity."

Harvard developed better offensive rhythm in the second half, taking advantage of its superior size along the front line.

Sophomore Darren Rankin, who started at center in place of the injured Kevin Fricka, led Harvard with 16 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the field, and he also grabbed six rebounds.

And freshman Kyle Snowden, who has ensured himself a solid spot in the rotation with his sparkling play at power forward, scored 15 points and added seven rebounds.

"They tended to play behind the post men, so we were looking inside for our first option," Snowden said. "When they started playing that, we went to an inside-outside combination."

Campbell had a quiet game offensively, managing only three points, but he contributed eight assists and combined with backcourt mate Jared Leake for eight steals, several of which came at the end of the game with Harvard struggling to put the win away.

Obviously, Harvard will have to play better tonight at Briggs Cage if it expects to beat visiting Colgate, a big winner Saturday over Yale.

Campbell expects his teammates to be up to the challenge. "We'll definitely come out and play better, I think. We can't let one bad game carry over into the next."

HARVARD, 67-62 at Briggs Cage Babson  23  39  --  62 Harvard  23  44  --  67

BABSON: Kingsley 5-10 4-6 16; Diodati 1-2 0-0 3; Healy 0-3 0-0 0; O'Brien 4-5 4-4 12; Witoski 3-12 0-0 6; D'Agostino 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 24-53 11-14 62.

HARVARD: Campbell 1-4 1-3 4; Leake 3-8 2-8 9; Gilmore 0-4 0-0 0; Morris 1-1 0-2 2; McClain 1-1 0-1 2; Mann 4-6 0-2 8; Scott 2-6 4-4 8; Snowden 6-11 3-3 15; White 2-4 0-0 4; Kricka 0-1 0-0 2; Rankin 7-9 0-0 16. Totals: 27-55 10-23 67.