Eagles Stuff Cagers in a Squeaker, 87-86

CHESNUT HILL--For 39 minutes and 35 seconds here at Boston College's Roberts Center last night, the Harvard men's basketball team showed no signs of the Crimson squad which had dropped 22 of its last 28 games.

In its third consecutive road outing at the start of the 1986-'87 campaign, the Crimson (now 0-3) battled hard to the closing seconds, but the Eagles' Troy Bowers' eight-ft., fall-away jump shot with 25 seconds remaining lifted Boston College to an 87-86 victory--the cagers' second one-point loss in three games.

"I've never been prouder of a team in my life," an emotional Harvard Coach Pete Roby said afterwards. "I've been coaching for nine years, and I have never seen a 40-minute effort like that in my life."

"This game is going to come back to help us," Roby continued. "We did everything to win the game tonight, we forced them to play our style. I just hope the guys can understand that we can play with anybody."

Mike Gielen's reverse lay-up with 6:38 left gave Harvard a seven-point lead, its largest edge of the second half. But on the verge of its biggest win in two years, the Crimson was unable to hold off a more experienced B.C. squad down the stretch, and the Eagles embarked on a 12-2 run to grab an 83-80 advantage.

It was Gielen (four points, two rebounds) again who connected from 15 feet away with 47 seconds left to vault Harvard back into the lead, 86-85, but after a B.C. time-out, Bowers hit his game-winning jumper.

The game was still not over, but the Crimson elected to quickly push the ball up-court without calling time-out.

"In that situation, you don't want the other team to be able to set their defense," Roby said. "The offense has the advantage there."

But forward Kyle Dodson (10 points) was unable to convert in the lane, and a seemingly stunned Harvard squad did not foul intentionally, allowing B.C. to run the final 12 seconds off the clock.

Harvard's tough man-to-man defense suffered a big blow when junior center Bill Mohler (eight rebounds, six points, two blocks) fouled out with 4:36 remaining.

Mohler was the cagers' strongest man off the boards, and he did a good job clogging up the middle, repeatedly forcing Eagles players to alter their shots.

Coming back from a one-year lay-off, Harvard Co-Captain Arne Duncan had the finest outing by a Crimson cager this season, scoring a career-high 29 points (the highest single-player output since the 1984-'85 season).

The senior forward also handed out a team-high seven assists, grabbed six rebounds, and made three steals.

"Arne is still looking to regain his consistency," Roby said. "Hopefully, this game will get him going."

Harvard, which led by as many as eight points in the first half, never trailed until B.C.'s Jamie Benton (nine-for-13 from the field, two-for-three from the line for 20 points) connected on an 18-ft. jumper with two seconds left in the opening frame.

But the cagers--which shot 45 percent from the floor in the contest--fought back at the start of the second half led by consecutive three-point baskets by Co-Captain Keith Webster (15 points, six assists).

Although the Crimson was out-rebounded by a slim 31-30 margin, it was the squad's inability to box out for the second straight game which played a major role in the defeat.

Harvard's amazing success at the foul line (21-for-22) was somewhat neutralized by its failure to box out on a number of key B.C. free throw misses.

Sophomore guard-forward Neil Phillips, who played football this past fall and did not begin practicing with the hoopsters until Tuesday, played 14 minutes and scored 11 points.

Eagles, 87-86 at Roberts Center

HARVARD (86): Kyle Dodson 4-2--10; Arne Duncan 9-9--29; David Lang 1-2--4; Kevin Collins 2-2--7; Keith Webster 6-0--15; Bill Mohler 2-2--6; Neil Phillips 4-2--11; Mike Gielen 1-2--4.

Totals: 29-65 21-22 86.

BOSTON COLLEGE (87): Skip Barry 4-5--16; Tyrone Scott 1-0--3; John Heath 0-0--0; Dana Barros 12-2--26; Ted Kelley 3-1--7; Jamie Benton 9-2--20; Reggie Pruitt 1-0--2; Troy Bowers 6-1--13; Kelly Monroe 0-0--0; Tom Hjerpe 0-0--0. Harvard  40-46--86 Boston College  42-45--87