Cagers Flip Engineers, 94-71, Raise Season Record to 2-0

The MIT men's basketball team outshot Harvard from the free throw line last night at the IAB. So what? The Crimson dominated the Engineers in just about every other statistical category, including the most important, the score, to coast to a 94-71 win and raise its record to 2-0.

Combined with its season-opening 91-74 win over Brandeis, the Crimson cagers have now put on two offensive show-stoppers in a row, something the IAB crowd hasn't seen much of in recent years. And a 2-0 start? Who remembers the last time that happened?

Of course, Brandeis and MIT are really more like tune-up games for Harvard than anything else, a chance to iron out the wrinkles, to get the stiff knees loosened up--a chance for Crimson coach Frank McLaughlin to check out different combinations of players and to see his eighth, ninth and tenth men in game situations.

Last night the Crimson cagers didn't play that well, but, then, they didn't have to. Junior forward Don Fleming had his way with the MIT defense during his 26 minutes of play, leading the Crimson for the second game in a row with 18 points, including 14 before intermission.

Mr.Open Jump Shot, co-captain Tom Mannix, hit 7 of 10 from the floor, most of them from about 20 feet out, to add 17 points to the Harvard total. Flashy sophomore Calvin Dixon, co-captain Mark Harris, and freshman centerforward Monroe Trout (six for seven, all in the second half) also scored in double figures for the Crimson.

Mixing uncontested layups with smooth perimeter shooting, Harvard jumped out to early leads of 8-2 and 18-11 and never looked back. Behind the free throws and drives of speedy guard Mark Branch (he led all scorers with 23), MIT narrowed the Crimson's lead to five points three times in the first half, but each time, a Mannix jumper or a Fleming drive put the Crimson back in control.

Dixon, with some slick ball handling, controlled the flow of the game for much of the first half, leading the Harvard first break. And, in an area which the Crimson was defnitely lacking in last season, the big men dominate the boards. Fleming pulled eight balls off the glass in the first 20 minutes.

the first 20 minutes.

After trading baskets for the first eight minutes of the second half, and pushing their lead to 68-52, the Crimson cagers ran off a string of 16 unanswered points for their biggest lead of the night (32). Trout combined tough rebounding on both ends of the floor with six points to spark the Crimson scoring spree.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard shot 56 per cent from the floor, on 41 for 73 shooting. Not bad for only game number two. MIT shot 34 per cent.... The Crimson outrebounded the Engineers 50-30. Fleming finished with ten to lead his team.

Harvard 94, MIT 71 at the IAB

HARVARD

Harris 4 3-3 11; Fleming 8 2-2 18; McCabe 3 0-0 6; Mannix 7 3-4 17; Dixon 5 2-2 12; Kohn 1 0-0 2; Mitchell 1 1-2 3; Taylor 0 0-0 0; Clarke 1 0-0 2; Trout 6 0-0 12; Plutnicki 1 1-3 3; White 1 0-0 2; Murnin 0 0-0 0; Carrabino 3 0-0 6. Totals 41 12-16 94.

MIT

Smith 1 0-0 2; Weiss 1 0-0 2; Branch 4 15-17 23; Joseph 6 0-0 12; Clarke 0 10-12 10; Shelton 0 0-0 0; Greer 2 0-0 4; Wilson 0 0-0 0; Williams 4 3-4 11; Detlefs 2 0-0 4; Johnson 1 1-1 3. Totals 21 29-34 71.