Penn Holds off Cagers, 88-79; Mannix Hits for 23 in Defeat

Harvard saved its best performance of the year for its best opponent of the year, but the effort-however brave-came up short Saturday night at the IAB, with Penn triumphing, 88-79.

Spurred on by a crowd of 1600-the largest reported crowd in IAB history-the Crimson, tied 45-45 at halftime, combined brilliant shooting with full court, man-to-man defense to take the lead briefly. But hopes of an upset fell away as they were eventually overpowered and outplayed by the better team.

The victory keeps Penn undefeated after seven Ivy League games and boosts its overall record to 5-7. Harvard, fifth place in the Ivies, falls to 2-5, and 6-12 total.

All season long the diminutive Harvard squad has lived-and more often-died by its shooting percentage: Saturday was no exception. Junior Tom Mannix, in easily his best game of the season, hit 10 of 15 from the floor toward a year-high total of 23 points.

But 10 for 15 doesn't say what kind of shots they were. Mannix shoots bombs, released from just above his right shoulder, often from 20-ft. or beyond, which silence a crowd as it waits for the verdict.

Mannix had seemed tentative of late, perhaps wondering more about whether to attempt his shots than about the shots themselves. But he was unafraid Saturday night, and he, and everyone else, knew it.

But Penn kept its collective head, despite many opportunities to collapse, and played intelligent and gutsy basketball to secure the triumph.

Gutsy means not succumbing to emotions when the refs seemed to call everything Harvard's way. Penn's most valuable player, James Salters, fouled out with 8:43 to go and Harvard down by three. The Quakers' second leading scorer, Paul Little, joined him on the bench with 4:50 left, but reserves like hot handed Angelo Reynolds helped the visitors pull away.

In the first half, Harvard clearly controlled the pace, and Penn stayed in tough solely because of the dazzling shooting of Reynolds (9 for 12 from the floor for 18 points), Little (5 for 11 for 12), and Ken Hall (7 for 11 for 18).

More Gas

Neither team could open up a lead in the first half, as each came up with four or six straight whenever the other had inched ahead. The half ended with Penn desperately trying to tip in a rebound for at least a slight advantage, but Harvard gutted out that melee, and coach Frank McLaughlin led an upset-minded and pumped up squad off the court.

Mannix opened the second half with a perfect 18-footer to put Harvard ahead, 47-45, but when Hall sank an equally long jumper at the other end with 13:56 left, Penn had run off a 14-4 string and positioned itself to hang on for the victory. THE NOTEBOOK: Penn finished fourth in the NCAA nationals last year, but any kind of repeat seems unlikely this season.