Engineers Bombard M. Cagers

BETHLEHEM, Penn.--It took them awhile, but members of the Harvard men's basketball team, inspired by playing in the little town of Bethlehem, finally got into the gift-giving spirit of the holidays last night.

Harvard (0-3) dropped a 75-54 decision to Lehigh in front of 1123 fans at Stabler Center, thanks in large part to the Crimson's own special type of gifts--turnovers and poor foul shooting in the second half.

Sophomore Mike O'Hara sparked the Engineers (2-1) with 14 secondhalf points, while Captain Scott Layer chipped in 12 points and seven assists. Freshman Dozie Mbonu pulled down 11 rebounds. Lehigh out-rebounded Harvard, 41-29.

After an impressive first half, the Crimson, trailing 34-28, came out of the locker room playing an agressive, pressing style of play, but the Engineers were able to break the press for some easy baskets. The Crimson offense also vanished, consistently turning the ball over to the defending East Coast Conference champions.

"I wanted to close the gap at the start of the second half," Harvard Coach PeterRoby said, "but we just weren't making thingshappen, we got frustrated and we ended up fightingourselves."

Three consecutive Harvard turnovers and threemissed front ends of one-and-one foul shotopportunities sparked a 19-8 Lehigh run in theearly part of the second half. O'Hara'sthree-point jumper with 10 minutes remaining inthe game extended the Engineers' lead to 55-40.

The Crimson was unable to recover from itslapse in execution.

"There's no team chemistry," sophomore guardIan Smith said. "We get behind and we startthinking about our mistakes. We started forcingshots and worst of all, we broke downdefensively."

Optimistic Start

Harvard started the game playing confidentbasketball for the first time since the first halfof the Boston College game last Saturday.

The Crimson jumped out to a 7-2 lead behindCo-Captain Mike Gielen's three-point jumper and aslam by forward Ron Mitchell.

While Harvard's confident play disappearedduring a 12-2 run by the Engineers in the nextfour minutes, Mitchell seemed to spark the Crimsonwith another resounding slam. On the play, the6-ft., 7-in. freshman rose about two feet abovethe rim to grab Carter's missed turnaround jumper.

But Lehigh outscored the cagers, 13-6, in thelast five minutes of the half behind thedominating play of senior forward Chris Block andtwo three-pointers by sophomore Peter Rudman, totake a 34-28 lead at intermission.

This was Harvard's third consecutive game inwhich it was unable to play strong fundamentalbasketball for 40 minutes.

"The beginning of the second half wascritical," Lehigh Coach David Duke said, "and weexecuted everything well."

Executing properly is something the talentedCrimson will have to learn how to do quickly if itharbors any hopes of challenging for an Ivy Leaguetitle.

THE NOTEBOOK: Forwards Kevin Collins andFred Schernecker missed the game due to injuriesand their status is uncertain for future games.

Engineers 75-54 at Stabler Center

Harvard  28-26--54Lehigh  34-41--75

Harvard [74]: Ron Mitchell 6-0--12; TedEvers 1-4--6; Mike Gielen 2-0--6; Dana Smith0-0--0; Eric Carter 0-0--0; Mal Hollensteiner3-0--6; Scott Gilly 2-0--5; Neil Phillips 1-0--2;lan Smith 2-0--4; Brian Mackey 0-0--0; Mike Minor3-4--10; David Lang 1-1--3; Steve Bowsher 0-0--0.

Totals: 21-51 9-17 54

LEHIGH [75]: Chris Block 3-7--13; TomMartin 3-3--9; Dozie Mbonu 4-2--10; Scott Layer4-2--12; Neal Fenton 1-0--3; Mike O'Hara 4-7--16;Steve Yaniga 1-0--2; Peter Rudman 2-0--6; ChuckPenn 1-0--2; Steve Bowsher 0-0--0.

Totals: 23-54 23-29 75.

Three-pointers: Gielen 2, Gilly; Layer 2,Rudman 2, Fenton, O'Hara. Fouled out: Mitchell,Carter. Total fouls: Harvard 26, Lehigh 20.Rebounds: Harvard 29 (Hollensteiner 5), Lehigh 41(Mbonu 10). Assists: Harvard 11 (Gielen 2, Carter2, D. Smith 2), Lehigh 14 (Layer 7). BlockedShots: Harvard 0, Lehigh 2 (Hipps, Mbonu).Turnovers: Harvard 21, Lehigh 18.

A: 1123