Practice-Starved Quintet Bows to Shorter, Alerter Springfield, 69-51

A lot of people have had a lot of trouble with exams lately, but apparently none more so than the Harvard basketball team. Playing the day after exam period ended, the Crimson quintet never seemed able to break out of an intellectual fog, and lost, 69 to 51, to an alert Springfield team Saturday in the Blockhouse.

The Springfield team, composed mainly of short, squart ballhandlers, got off to a quick start in the first quarter. Captain Jim Pelcher, guarded with an air of detachment by Bill Dennis, put in three quick set shots in a row. By the half the Gymnasts were leading 35 to 29, mostly because of Pelcher's 15 points.

At the start of the second half the Crimson, led by Gerry Murphy, showed a slight reawakening of interest. Murphy put in three taps from close in, and Dennis and Ed Condon made set shots to bring the score to 44 to 42, Springfield leading.

Then several things happened which made the outcome certain. Center Al Schutts came back into the game for the Gymnasts, and a minute later Dick Lionette of the Crimson fouled out. Since Ed Blodnick had fouled out previously, this left the Crimson without a big man to combat the husky but agile Schutts.

It was Schutts, therefore, who paced the Gymnasts as they reopened the gap. About the only thing the locals could do to stop him was foul, and that they did with a vengeance. All in all, Schutts took a total of 21 free throws and made 13 of them. He and Pelcher were Springfield's high scorers with 21 points each. Dennis made 16 points for Harvard and Murphy ten.