Minutemen Squeak by Crimson, 74-71, As Late Surge Erases Harvard Lead

The University of Massachusetts cagers roared back from a six point deficit by reeling off 11 consecutive points to nip the Crimson, 74-71 at the IAB last night.

The Crimson seemed to have the game under control when Lou Silver capped a Harvard flurry with a short jumper for a 67-61 lead. With six minutes to play, the running game was rolling to the roar of the near capacity crowd.

But the Crimson went to its deliberate offense to protect the precarious margin. Harvard lost its earlier movement and could not penetrate the hawking Minuteman defense.

The Crimson shooting turned cold and UMass stormed back behind big men John Murphy and Jim Town. Each netted four points in the spree to propel UMass to a 72-67 lead at 1:26.

Harvard finally located the hoop again as Arnie Needleman sank a bank shot and Jonas Honick added a bomb from the corner to cut the Minuteman margin to one.

But an effective UMass freeze frustrated Harvard and Honick was forced to foul with five seconds left in the game. Minuteman co-captain Bill Endicott calmly sank both free throws to ice the UMass victory.

"We went with the control game because it is our offense," coach Tom Sanders said. "We are supposed to be able to hold the lead. The other team should make the mistakes because they need the ball. But we made the mistakes."

Harvard had 22 turnovers for the game, including a couple of costly miscues in the last frantic minutes.

"I don't think you can blame the turnovers on inexperience," Sanders said. "It could result from any number of things. But the free throws were what really hurt."

The Crimson only converted seven of 16 charity tosses for a meager 44 per cent, while the Minuteman drilled 18 of 20. "We missed about three one-and-ones toward the end which were really costly," Sanders said.

Sophomore guard Dave Rogers sparked the Harvard attack in the early going as the Crimson spurted to a 18-11 lead. But center Brian Banks picked up his third foul at 11:11 and sat out the rest of the half.

The Minuteman whittled at the Harvard margin by working the ball inside to exploit Banks's absence. Lou Silver responded to the UMass charge by pouring in 14 first-half points and the half was deadlocked at 39.

Murphy spearheaded the UMass attack in the second half with 13 points for a game high total of 19.

Silver led Crimson scorers with 18 points. Banks poured in 16 and Honick popped for 14.