Yardling Cagers Roll by Tufts; Show Improved Defensive Play

Building an early and virtually insurmountable lead on a flock of tip-ins and 15 foot jump shots, the freshman basketball team coasted to a 101-71 victory over Tufts last night at Tufts.

The Tufts squad, which opened the game with a deliberate attack off a high post, battled the Yardling cagers almost evenly for the first seven minutes of the game. But then, after new Harvard coach John Harvey called time to give his players a rest. Crimson center Floyd Lewis tipped in three in a row. Forward James Brown dumped in three more field goals soon after to give Harvard a 25-15 lead-midway through the f?t half.

After continually failing to pierce the hustling Crimson man-to-man defense, the Jumbos abandoned their patient, lookfor-the-good-shot offense with seven minutes left in the first half and began to throw garbage at the net. Brown continued to hit as the Yardlings took advantage of Tufts' desperation and quickly built a 20-point lead.

Defensive Work Pays Off

The defensive work that Harvey has had the Yardlings concentrating on since he took over from Floyd Wilson two weeks ago has obviously paid off.

The 71 points that the Jumbos scored is 11 less than any of the freshmen's opponents had scored before Harvey stepped into the job and 19 less than the average number of points scored by Yardling opponents.

"With the exception of the few times that Tufts picked up backdoor scores on us, we played pretty good defense." Harvey said after the game. "We're still sloppy on occasion, but at least everybody is now trying hard," he added.

During the middle of the scoring binge. Brown pumped in a leaper from the right corner, stole a pass seconds later, dribbled the length of the court, faked a pass, and beautifully laid the ball up and in. Fifteen seconds later, he lofted a twenty footer through the hoop to capsulize a great oneman show. Brown finished with 33 points while teammate Floyd Lewis contributed 23.

Substitutes played for Harvard for most of the second half, and the freshmen still continued to pad their lead. The ten reserves who played tallied 39 points for the Crimson, and the play of a few subs sparki?il.

Second-team member Hal Smith, the "hot-dog" of the team, scored late in the game on two twirling shots and set up two more baskets on behind-the-back and hook passes through mazes of players. Another sub, Tom Backenstose grabbed a pass with a second left in the game and threw up a fade-away jump shot at the buzzer that swished the net to put the freshmen over the century mark.

The Yardlings, who are now 9-2. will face St. Anseims tonight in the I.A.B.