Brown's Truck Steamrolls M. Cagers

Did somebody catch the license plate on the truck that ripped through Briggs Cage Saturday night?

I got the name--Brown's 250-lb. Carlos Williams, who scorched the Harvard men's basket-ball team with 24 points in the Bruins' 87-77 upset of the Crimson. The loss, combined with Princeton's 60-54 win over Cornell and Dartmouth's 57-51 loss to Yale Saturday, dropped the Crimson (8-9 overall, 4-2 Ivy) into a second-place tie with the Big Green one-half game behind the 4-1 Tigers.

Williams shot 12-for-15 from the field and pulled down 15 rebounds in a tremendous one-man domination of the Harvard centers Mal Hollensteiner and Fred Schernecker.

"[Williams is] one of the best around because he's so strong and he makes his shots," Harvard Coach Peter Roby said. "A tremendous rebounder, he's got a great future. He'll give people in this league a lot of problems."

But the freshman forward, who has already been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice this season, wasn't the only Bruin running over and by the Crimson.

Forward Arthur Jackson connected for 17 second-half points, including several three-point buckets which stemmed Harvard comeback attempts. And against the vaunted Harvard press, guards Chuck Savage and Rick Lloyd played nearly flawless basketball, combining for 30 points and 13 assists while only committing six turnovers.

"On the break, I was finishing up baskets and really shooting layups," Williams admitted. "I wasn't going to miss too many shots inside, I guess. I didn't have to shoot from the outside, the rest of the team did the outside shooting."

But Williams and company got a lot of help from the Crimson, which stumbled out of the blocks, falling behind, 19-3, three-and-a-half minutes into the game. Lloyd and Savage combined for three treys and Williams and Jackson added three buckets underneath to spark the run for Brown. Only Co-Captain Scott Gilly could connect for the frustrated Crimson, nailing a three-pointer from the left side.

"We were a little bit off rhythm tonight," Roby said. "The way we started the game didn't help because we had to play uphill all day. You have to give Brown credit. They came out ready to go. That was obvious from the start."

Brown (6-12, 3-3) coasted behind Williams' 8-for-9 performance en route to a 42-32 lead at intermission. And even when the Bruins did miss, Williams and company were right there to pick up 11 offensive boards in the first half alone. The Bruins outrebounded the Crimson, 47-37, on the night.

"The story on the boards was the rest of the team boxing out," Williams said, "so it was just the closest man to the boards getting the ball and, since I'm the man inside, I was just grabbing them."

The Crimson got close twice in the second half, led by Schernecker and Gilly--who combined for six three-pointers in the half--but Jackson wouldn't let Harvard back in the game. After a Schernecker bomb and a Ron Mitchell tip-in pulled the Crimson to within six, 60-54, Jackson hit a three-pointer from the left side. Following a rare four-point play by Schernecker, who tied a team record with six treys, and an end-to-end basket by Ralph James, Jackson burned the Crimson with another bomb from the left.

And the Bruins managed to keep the Crimson out of its inside game, limiting All-Ivy candidate Ron Mitchell to 11 points and six rebounds and keeping center Mall Hollensteiner scoreless. Bernard Muir was the defensively specialist against Mitchell and Hollensteiner, playing most of the second half despite picking up his fourth foul with 15 minutes remaining in the game.

"Bernard did exactly what he wanted to do," Brown Coach Mike Cingiser said. "He did a fantastic defensive job. The key to the game was what Bernard and Mike Gates did defensively against their middle men."

It was nothing any other truck couldn't have done.

Bruins, 87-77 at Briggs Cage Brown  42-41--87 HARVARD  32-45--77

BROWN [87]: Carlos Williams 12-15 0-0 24; Arthur Jackson 5-13 6-9 19; Bernard Muir 4-8 0-0 8; Chuck savage 5-8 4-4 15; Rick Lloyd 5-11 3-4 15; Jon Drezner 0-1 3-6 3; Mike Gates 1-4 1-2 3; Kirk Lowry 0-0 0-0 0; Ben Batory 0-0 0-0 0; Bill Coffey 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 32-60 17-25 87

HARVARD [77]: Ron Mitchell 4-14 3-5 11; Ralph James 5-19 3-4 14; Mal Hollensteiner 0-1 0-0 0; Scott Gilly 4-5 0-0 11; Tarik Campbell 1-1 0-2 2; Fred Schernecker 6-14 1-1 19; Dana Smith 3-11 2-2 8; Tyler Rullman 4-9 3-3 12; Peter Condakes 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals 27-74 12-17 77

Three-pointers: Jackson 3, Lloyd 2, Savage; Schernecker 6, Gilly 3, James, Rullman. Fouled out: Jackson; Mitchell, Smith. Rebounds: Brown 47 (Williams 15); Harvard 37 (James 7). Assists: Brown 23 (Savage, 7); Harvard 14 (DSmith 7). Steals: Brown 8 (Jackson, Savage, Drezner 2); Harvard 10 (Gilly 3.) Blocks: Brown 4 (Gates, Williams, Muir, Savage); Harvard 3 (Mitchell, Rullman, Schernecker). Total Fouls: Brown 18; Harvard 24. Turnovers: Brown 15; Harvard 10.

Attendance: 1600.