Cagers Fall to Dartmouth Comeback, 83-80

With five minutes remaining in last night's game in the IAB, the Crimson basketball team blew a 15-point lead on a series of ball-handling mistakes and missed free throw opportunities to fall, 83-80, to a recurrent Dartmouth squad.

Ahead 75-59, Harvard lost junior guard Dale Dover for the rest of the game when he hurt his back after being submarined on a driving lay-up by the Big Green's 6'9" center Jim Masker.

After the Crimson traded six more points with Dartmouth to lead 80-65 captain Ernie Hardy fouled out Harvard went into its slow down pattern offense to work for the good shot, but didn't score again.

Paced by 6'5" sophomore forward Paul Erland, who led all scorers with 25 points, the Indians tallied 18 straight to top the Crimson for the second time this winter. Harvard is now 0-4 in the Ivy League and 6-10 overall.

The Crimson had four players in double figures. Dover scored 18, while Matt Bozek finished with 16 points, 13 in the second half. Junior guard Joe Stanislaw, playing his best game to date, had 15, and for ward Brian Newmark tallied 14 before he fouled cut.

Until four minutes were left in the first half, Harvard played even with the Big Green. Then three steals, one each by the Crimson's three guards-Dover, Hozek, and Stanislaw-set up several scoring chances. The Crimson capitalized on them and was ahead, 45-39, at half-time.

In the second half, Harvard played superb defense against Dartmouth's high post offense, and kept the Indians away from their offensive boards by effective screening.

Penetration

Offensively, the Crimson penetrated Dartmouth's 3-2' zone, working for an open shot with quick, sharp passing. By shooting 48 per cent from the floor, Harvard built up a 16-point advantage midway through the second half.

The Crimson maintained the margin for three mere minutes. and then Dover was injured. Hardy fouled out two minutes later, and Harvard collapsed, unable to score another point.

"You wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't seen it." said Harvard coach Bob Harrison after the game. There were several key plays that turned the hall game around: Dover got hurt, then Hardy fouled out, and the referees failed to call an obvious goaltending violation, he explained.

The loss makes slim the Crimson's chances of finishing in the first division of the Ivy League. After exam period, the team travels to Yale and Brown on January 30 and 31. The next home games are against Penn and Princeton on February 6 and 7.