Hoopsters Blitz Brown With First Half Blowout

The Crimson cagers kicked off the Ivy League campaign in earnest last night at the IAB with a pell mell victory over Brown by the deceptively close score of 71-67.

Harvard left the Bruins gasping for air from the opening tip-off as midway through the first half. Frank Konstantynowicz sprinted the length of the court for a layup that gave the hoopsters a 22-6 lead, the biggest bulge of the night. The cagers looked a little leg-weary themselves in the later going but forced enough oxygen balls in the first half with Brown shooting only .393 from the field to coast home.

It didn't seem to matter who was in the lineup as all players chipped in with Bob Hooft doing yeoman's duty in the first half picking up eight to lead a balanced attack that featured four men in double figures.

Hoofer and fellow forward Bobby "Beak" Allen matched each other like a pair of bookends all night as Hooft rippled the cords from 15 feet and then Allen popped from the same spot to get Harvard out of the starting blocks. Both finished with ten points.

After Allen and Hooft scored ten of the Crimson's first 12 points, leading scorer Glenn Fine arched home a jumper from terra incognita to make it 14-2 with 14:40 left in the half.

After Konstantynowicz capitalized off his steal, the Bruins began to get their second wind and cut the lead to 26-18 with 7:30 left to go. Rich Bengel, who has been relegated to the role of minutemen these days, came off the bench and uncorked a pair of corner jumpers to keep the Crimson's lead at ten.

The half ended with the hoopsters out in front, 39-30, as the combination of metronome passing with sheer hustle proved too much for the beleaguered Bruins. Last weekend, Brown stunned Columbia, 64-62. At the time the Lions were sharing first place in the Ivies with still-undefeated Penn.

To put Brown's performance in perspective, last night the Bruins played without their leading scorer Bruce Rhodes, who has been sidelined by academic difficulties.

In the second half, Cyrus Booker picked up the baton for Harvard, scoring nine of his 11 points. After center Brian Banks went to the bench when he was slapped with his fourth personal foul with 15 minutes left to play, Booker stepped into the pivot post with his customary aplomb.

Booker followed up on a rebound to make it 43-37 and then brought the house to its feet midway through the half when he swiped the ball and raced full court for a plexiglass pummeling slam dunk on which he drew a foul. He converted the three point play to give Harvard a 50-39 edge.

The Crimson's next scoring binge came when Fine dropped a layup and then laced a picture-perfect alley-oop pass to Booker to maintain the 11-point gap.

Harvard couldn't breathe easy, though, until the final buzzer because the Bruins slipped in a four-point play with 33 seconds showing on the clock. Dwayne Maynard hit the first of a one-and-one situation but missed the second. Pete Moss snared the rebound and sunk the bucket, and was fouled to boot, putting the Bruins within three, 68-65. That was the closest Brown came as Fine dribbled down the clock for the win.