Basketball Team Nips Huskies, 83-79, Runs Streak to Three, Tops .500 Mark

The Harvard basketball team lost a ten-point half-time advantage to a scrappy Northeastern squad midway through the second half, but quickly jumped back into the lead on supetb shooting by sophomore guard. Matt Bozek, and topped the Huskies, 83-79, last night at Northeastern.

By defeating the unbeaten Northeastern team, the Crimson established itself as one of the strongest squads in New England. The victory, Harvard's third in a row, made its record 3-2; the first time since 1963-64 that a Crimson basketball team has been above the 500 mark.

Bozek, who scored 19 points in the second half, finished with 21, Harvard's other guard, junior Dale Dover, paced the team in the first half with 19 and adled seven more to lead all scorers with 26 tallies. Captain Ernie Hardy had 21 points.

The Crimson prevented the Huskies from playing their shoot-and-crash-the boards style of game early in the first half by screening them from the boards. Harvard pulled ahead 19-15 and steadily increased the margin to 34-19.

Dover, who usually works for the driving lay-up, hit four jump shorts to lead the Crimson to its 43-33 half-time advantage. Hardy also scored several key baskets while outrebounding Northeastern with sephomore forward Brian Newmark.

With 3000 partisan spectators urging them on the Huskies, using a full-court press that forced several Crimson turnovers, inched their way to a brief 62-61 lead.

Then Bozek took command, Scoring a twelve-foot jump shot to put Harvard ahead. Bozek added six more points and directed the Crimson's offensive attack.

"Matty has the guts of a burglar." said Harvard coach Bob Harrison. "That is, he's not afraid to take the shot if he thinks he's got it." Harrison explained.

The Crimson held Northeastern's leading scorer, Jack Maheras, to eight paints. Husky captain Paul Swett lead his team with 14.

"I never doubted that we'd beat them," said Harrison. "We had beter shooters and I knew we'd come back. We're a team that plays boom-boom-we'll get four points quick. And I knew that the next boom-boom would come." he said.

In a 6:30 p.m. preliminary. Harvard's freshman team outran the Northeastern freshmen, 111-95 to win its fourth straight game.

The Yardlings exploded to a 20-point lead early in the second half, over-powering the Huskies on the boards. But Northeastern came back and cut the margin to 81-70 with a full-court press that forced numerous Crimson ball-handling mistakes.

Paced by guard Jean Wilkinson and James Brown. Harvard held its lead to win. Brown finished with 28 points, and Wilkinson had 23, Center Floyd Lewis, who outrebounded the Huskies with Brown and forward Marshall Sanders, scored 27 points.