Men's Hoops Beats Brown, 77-74

The light at the end of the tunnel is drawing closer for the Harvard men's basketball team.

That light is the end of the season. But Harvard took a lot of the sting out of reaching it with a clutch 77-74 win over Brown in Providence last night.

Free-shooting proved to be the difference down the stretch. To Brown, the hoop was in another dimension--the Bears shot only 5-of-15 from the line in the second half and 1-of-6 in the crunch minutes.

Captain Tyler Rullman led all scorers with 34 points and moved into third place in all-time scoring for Harvard. Rullman also had 10 rebounds.

Brown (7-16 overall, 2-9 Ivy) briefly controlled the game midway through the second half with a 15-4 tear that put the Bears ahead 57-50. Harvard (5-18, 2-9) worked back into the game with Brown's free-throw woes.

Rullman, with 1,481 career points, scored the first six points of the second half for Harvard as the Crimson moved up 42-37. That was enough for Rullman to move ahead of Ralph James in Harvard's record book.

Alan Cole led the Bears with 21 points and Matt Smith added 17.

Freshman Darren Rankin and junior point guard Tarik Campbell each poured in 12 points.

The win was Harvard's first on the road since January 1992. Harvard now needs just one more win to tie last season's win total of six.

The Crimson plays Yale tonight in New Haven, starting at 7:00 p.m.

AP wire reports contributed to the writing and reporting of this article. HARVARD, 77-74 at Previdence, R.I. Harvard  36  41  --  77 Brown  37  37  --  74

HARVARD: Campbell 4-7 3-6 12, Rullman 15-27 4-6 34, Glinore 2-4 0-0 4, Morris 0-0 0-0 0, Mann 2-6 2-2 6, Liopis 0-1 1-2 1, Kubisk 0-1 0-0 0, White 3-5 2-7 8, Rankin 3-0 4-6 12. Totals 29-60 18-28 77.

BROWN: Koplik 4-8 1-2 9, Clayton 2-5 1-2 7, Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 8-11 0-1 17, Miles 0-1 0-0 0, Hoyd 0-3 0-0 0, Blackiston 4-10 3-9 11, Joseph 2-2 0-1 4, Cole 6-12 5-7 20, Sites 0-1 0-0 0, Bradley 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 29-57 10-22 74.

HARVARD: Campbell 4-7 3-6 12, Rullman 15-27 4-6 34, Glinore 2-4 0-0 4, Morris 0-0 0-0 0, Mann 2-6 2-2 6, Liopis 0-1 1-2 1, Kubisk 0-1 0-0 0, White 3-5 2-7 8, Rankin 3-0 4-6 12. Totals 29-60 18-28 77.

BROWN: Koplik 4-8 1-2 9, Clayton 2-5 1-2 7, Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 8-11 0-1 17, Miles 0-1 0-0 0, Hoyd 0-3 0-0 0, Blackiston 4-10 3-9 11, Joseph 2-2 0-1 4, Cole 6-12 5-7 20, Sites 0-1 0-0 0, Bradley 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 29-57 10-22 74.