Carrabino Corrals 30 to Pace Cagers In Season-Opening Win Over Warriors

With last year's star lost to graduation and this year's star temporarily lost to the sidelines, the Harvard men's basketball team opened its season Saturday night in search of a new guiding light.

The Crimson found it--about 6-ft., 8-in, high in the sky. And funny thing is, the newest star isn't so new after all.

In his first game since an injury sidelined him early last year, junior forward Joe Carrabino deposited 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Harvard in a season-opening 77-68 victory over Division II power Merrimack.

And for Carrabino, whose dreams of stardom had seemingly faded with last year's painful back injury, his Briggs Cage debut evoked memories of the play that landed him Ivy Rookie of the Year honors in 1981.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Carrabino said. "I've worked hard to get ready."

And with his returning, the Crimson squad can expect a more respectable showing than last year's mediocre 12-14 record. "Last year I think we overachieved," Coach Frank McLaughlin said of his squad. "But you add someone like Joe to that team and you can win 16 or 17 games. He makes that big a difference."

The player most pre-season experts had figured to make the biggest difference for Harvard, however, was on the bench for the Merrimack contest. With 6-ft., 9-in. Monroe Trout in his Sunday best nursing an injury to the hand, sophomore Greg Wildes moved into the Crimson's starting quintet.

There, he joined fellow sophomore Pat Smith, who has apparently taken over for the Crimson's star of a year ago, point guard Calvin Dixon, who graduated last June.

But even with the talented sophomore in the lineup and Carrabino contributing 17 of the Crimson's first 28 points, Harvard found itself on the short end of a 29-28 score with just five minutes left in the first half. By the time the buzzer blew, however, the Crimson was on top 40-33, thanks to 10 points from a hot-handed Bob Ferry.

The Crimson extended its lead to 49-41 four minutes into the second half, perpetrating the Warrior zone with several in sick drives and keeping Merrimack All-American Joe Dickson away from the boards.

"Dickson's going to be as good a player as we face all year." McLaughlin said. "Considering how well we played him, I think we're in excellent shape."

A few mental letdowns and some aggressive play from the visitors, though, evened the score at 59-59 with just 6:38 left to play. Three 18-ft, jumpers in a row crased what had been a 59-53 Harvard lead.

Enter sophomore guard Arne Duncan. Subbing for Wildes, Duncan added seven points in the final five minutes to pace the Crimson offense and Carrabino pulled in three rebounds to pace the Crimson defense to the final 77-68 score.

The Crimson now turns its attention to the Ivy race, putting its 1-0 record on the line when Dartmouth visits Briggs tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.