Princeton Demolishes Cagers

About the best thing that you can say about last night's Harvard-Princeton basketball encounter at the IAB is that it finally ended. In a game which served the same purpose an a sleeping pill, the Tigers scored a 70-55 triumph over an inertia plagued Crimson squad.

It wasn't as much in Princeton victory as it was a Harvard default. The Crimson combined inexplicable coaching strategy, non-existent defense, and an offense which at times did not seem to know what basket it was shooting in to produce its third successive loss.

Princeton did contribute a little to the final score, such as the flashy moves of Armond Hill, the game's high scorer with 19 points. For the most part, however, the Crimson allowed the victors to do as they please, with the end result one of those basketball games which is better left arena.

Harvard's one moments of glory occurred in the first fifteen minutes of action, when the Crimson was able to keep pace and managed to forge a 24-24 deadlock. Then, for one of those strange reasons that only basketball coaches are able to explain, Mike Griffin, the lone Harvard performer who knows the meaning of offensive penetration, was pulled from the game.

Before you could say throw in the towel, the Tigers had vaulted into a 32-24 halftime advantages, one which they hardly deserved, but when you've in contention for the Ivy championship, you accept almost anything.

The second half produced a great deal of sluggishness on both sides, but the Tigers, after watching their lead diminish to five points at one stage, gradually pulled away from Harvard, and posted their seventh Ivy win of the year.

Bill Carey once again led the Crimson in scoring with 12 points, but no other Harvard prayer was able to register more than eight. The fact that the Crimson's shooting percentage was a dismal 364 goes a long way in explaining the game's outcome.

Equally harmful to Harvard's cause was the innovative defense which the Crimson employed, one which allowed Princeton at least one open shot every time down the court. Princeton's defense, one the other hand, was no effective that it rarely allowed Harvard to penetrate on offense, and at times, forced the Crimson to set up from mid-court.

The most exciting aspect of the game was a fast fight between Harvard's Jonas Honick (his second in three games) and the Tigers' Mickey Steurer which caused both benches to clear with a minute left in the game.

Adding insult to injury. Princeton's second leading scorer with 18 points was Barnes Hauptfuhrer, in the 1948 Harvard basketball season, the Crimson's leading scorer was one George Hauptfuhrer, who is new a member of Harvard's Sports Hall of Fame.