Crimson Nukes Army, 67-59

With his tiring forces beginning to lose ground, Army commander Les Wothke made the logical military move--he brought in a fresh platoon.

But the scene wasn't a battlefield, and the desperation move didn't work as the Harvard men's basketball team continued to advance on its way to a 67-59 bombing of the U.S. Military Academy last night before a reading-period gathering of 200 at Briggs Athletic Center.

With Harvard holding a three-point edge and guard David Bernard at the line, Wothke pulled all five of his starters. Bernard sank both ends of his one-and-one and the Crimson bagged two buckets while holding the Cadet second-string scoreless. When Wothke reinserted his starters two minutes later, Harvard (now 5-5 overall, 0-1 in Ivy play) owned a 50-41 lead and the game.

After a first half in which the only thing tighter than the score was the players themselves, Crimson Coach Frank McLaughlin brought his team out in an aggressive man-to-man defense. Center Monroe Trout tallied six points as the cagers mounted an 8-2 rally to nab a five-point cushion, the biggest either team had enjoyed all game.

Though Army (4-5) fought back and eventually regained the lead, the second-half tempo was established and it didn't favor the slower Cadets. Sharpshooting freshman forward Greg Wildes took over where Trout had left off, piling in points with 20-ft. baseline jumpers he sank like layups. When he began rebuilding the Harvard buffer. Wothke knew he had to make a move.

"The starters weren't playing," the Cadets' mentor said after the game. "I should have benched them the first half and never brought them back in."

McLaughlin wasn't exactly pleased with his team's performance either. "We didn't play well," he said. "I thought we were a little lethargic in the zone."

An uninspired offense combined with the lethargic zone play kept Harvard from taking control of the first stanza. The half plodded along with each squad attempting perimeter shots against the other's zone and neither finding much success. Crimson point guard Calvin Dixon provided the only offensive initiative, driving for six first-half points on his way to a team-high 15 on the game.

Army's offense came from sophomore guard Randy Cozzens, who gunned from outside for 20 points but only nine buckets in 21 attempts. The Cadets, who started two sophomores and two freshmen, connected on just over a third of their shots from the floor.

McLaughlin predicts his squad will balance its league mark at 1-1 when it hosts Dartmouth Saturday night The Big Green topped Harvard, 63-62, in Hanover last month.

"We're gonna beat the hell out of them forecast the Crimson mentor." Anybody who dislikes Dartmouth can come here Saturday night and have an enjoyable evening. THE NOTEBOOK: Forward Joe Carrabino still hasn't returned to Cambridge. The 6-ft., 8-in junior is still recovering from a back injury and may miss the entire season. McLaughlin, always an ardent supporter of the Harvard University Band sported an "I love the Harvard Band" button last night in protest of Army's refusal to let the band perform at halftime of this year's Harvard football game.

Army (59)

Schlitt 2-10 1-2 5, Ellis 0-0 0-0 0, Belanger 0-0 0-0 0, Cozzens 9-21 2-2 20, Mongan 1-4 2-2 4, Milliren 1-6 0-0 2, Ryscavage 3-5 4-6 10, Popoyich 0-0 0-0 0, Schwartz 7-18 2-2 16, Michaelson 1-5 0-0 2, O'Donnell 0-2 0-0 2, Totals 24-71 11-14 59.

Harvard (67)

Dixon 7-11 1-2 15, Ferry 2-7 6-8 10, Plutnicki 4-7 1-1 9, Trout 5-10 4-4 14, White 0-1 1-2 1, Wildes 4-9 2-2 10, Bernard 2-5 2-2 6, Boyle 0-0 2-2 2, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Farley 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 24-51 19-23 67. Army  28  31--59 Harvard  27  40--67 Att. 200