Cagers Muster Win Over Yale, 89-86

It was not a good night for Harvard fans with weak hearts, but the cagers survived a few rocky moments to defeat Yale, 89-86, at the IAB last night.

Harvard had opened up a nine point lead midway through the second half, but Yale came charging back to take a four point advantage, 80-76, with 3:30 remaining. In gaining their lead, the Bulldogs scored ten straight points against the cagers.

Harvard evened the score a half minute later on a jump shot by James Brown and a tip-in by Floyd Lewis. Following the Harvard comeback, a major turning point of the game came. The Bulldogs called a time out and Yale's Mike Baskauskas said something to the official on the way to the bench and drew a technical.

Jim Fitzsimmons converted the shot from the charity stripe giving Harvard a one point advantage, 81-80. Tim Kearns hit a lay-up for Yale to put them back in the lead, but Harvard reeled off eight straight points to an 89-82 lead with 38 seconds left.

Almost, But Not Quite

A Yale fullcourt press produced a number of turnovers in the final seconds but the Bulldogs could not come all the way back.

James Brown again led the way for Harvard as the story of the second half was the ability of the Harvard guards to get him the ball on the low post. The senior forward scored 12 of his 20 points in the final stanza and also hauled in 11 rebounds during the contest.

Floyd Lewis played one of his finest games of the season as he showed tremendous mobility on defense. Lewis blocked about six shots during the game and brought down a game high of 12 rebounds.

The backcourt combination of Ken Wolfe and Jim Fitzsimmons sparkled offensively as they combined to contribute 34 points. With Harvard leading by one point with 1:30 seconds to go, Wolfe calmly stepped to the foul line and converted a one and one. Fitzsimmons had 18 points and found the range on a number of long jump shots.

As in many other games this season, the cagers were erratic. At times the fastbreak was in high gear, with Harvard leaving Yale's team looking on helplessly at the other end of the floor. At other times, the offense sputtered as the cagers committed 26 turnovers during the contest.

Throughout the game, the Crimson dominated the boards as they outrebounded Yale, 44-35.

The victory gives Harvard a 11-7 overall record and leaves them 4-2 in the league with a game against Brown scheduled for tonight. Yale is now 6-12 and 3-4 in league play.

The Bruins, who have suffered a disappointing year so far, had problems getting by Dartmouth last night in Hanover. Brown beat the hapless Indians 61-58 in a surprisingly tight contest.,

Led by 6-5 forward Phil Brown, the Bruins now boast a 4-3 league record.