It's Cardiac Time: Close Shaves for M. Cagers

Four games into the men's basketball season, this much is clear: Harvard fans had better buckle up for the ride.

You want calm, laid-back contests whose outcomes are decided by early in the second half? Forget Harvard. With its lack of dominant scorers or established All-Ivy players, this year's Crimson promises to provide a lot of frenetic, down-to-the-wire games.

Already, the first four contests have provided a glimpse of the rollercoaster ride that could be Harvard's season.

First, a frighteningly tight five-point win over lightly-regarded Babson. Then a five-point overtime loss to heavily-favored Colgate. And finally, on Tuesday, a gut-wrenching four-point loss to Holy Cross as Harvard watched its 21-point second-half lead evaporate in the last 12 minutes.

Exciting? You bet. Comfortable? Well....

"In the two games against Holy Cross and Colgate, we knew that they were really good teams, and so it was okay that we were that close," sophomore Mike Gilmore said. "But of course it'd be more comfortable if we could put the games away earlier. Hopefully that's something we'll improve on."

A Mixed Bag

Heading into its showdown tomorrow at Briggs Cage against Lehigh (1-4), Harvard (2-2) has shown mixed signs as a team. Some areas of play augur a potentially bright future, while others recall a dismal past.

Rebounding is better. Defense is better. Team depth is better.

But free throw Shooting is still bad. So is the assist-to-turnover ratio. And in perhaps the worst resemblance to its recent predecessors, this season's squad has shown that penchant for letting close games slip away.

As starting two-guard Jared Leake said after the Holy Cross contest, "We are a lot better team [than last year. But holding a lead] is something we have to get used to."

According to captain Tarik Campbell, it has to do with mental attitude. "We have a young team this year with a couple of new guys. We need to get to the point where we get the killer instinct. I have no doubt it will come, but I just hope it's sooner rather than later."

Big Men Standing Tall

Among the most pleasant developments for Harvard has been the emergence of two young forwards, sophomore Darren Rankin and freshman Kyle Snowden.

Rankin leads the team in scoring with 14 points per game, with Snowden chipping in 10.8 points per game.

Additionally, Snowden stands among the Ivy League leaders in rebounds with 8.3 boards per game. Rankin is close behind at 6.2.

Those numbers were good enough to snag Snowden the season's first Ivy League Rookie of the Week award and got Rankin a spot on the League's weekly Honor Roll.

"They've really been going strong to the basket and filling up the middle for us," Campbell said. "Anytime you've got those guys inside, it helps the team."

Great Scott

The Crimson has benefited this season from a number of players' improved performances this season. In addition to Rankin and Snowden, Leake, Dan Morris and Terrence Mann have all made strides since last year.

Nobody, however, has matched junior forward Fred Scott's turnaround.

After a ten-point game against Holy Cross--including two of four from three-point range--the Indianapolis native is averaging nine points and four rebounds a game.

While not the stats of a superstar, they mark a huge change from last season, when Scott suffered from various injuries and languished on the bench.

Around the Ivies

As expected, preseason favorite Penn has established itself as the strongest team in the Ancient Eight. With a pair of 15-point road wins over Southern Cal and Lehigh sandwiched around a three-point loss at Ohio State, the Quakers turned enough heads to receive 22 votes in last week's Associated Press poll.

"There are no Michael Jordans out there," captain Barry Pierce said after the Ohio State game, a biting loss that saw Penn squander a 12-point halftime lead. "We feel confident that we can compete with any team in the country. There are no moral victories this year."

A few other teams have turned in surprising performances thus far. Cornell, picked as high as third in some preseason publications, stands at 1-3 under new coach Al Walker after opening its season with 50-point losses to Maryland and Syracuse and a 40-point loss to St. Louis. (St. Louis?)

And Columbia, which was the unanimous choice to finish dead last in the Ancient Eight, has been surprisingly competitive in building a 2-2 record.

Dartmouth, which will visit Briggs Cage next Tuesday to play Harvard, stands at 1-2 after early losses to New Hampshire and Boston College and then a victory over Middlebury on December 1.

Although the Big Green will be heavily favored over the Crimson next week, look for a possible upset. Coach Dave Faucher has struggled to find a consistent scorer on the Dartmouth team (sound familiar?), and his players will likely be rusty after just one game in the last two weeks. And Rankin, Snowden and company could have a field day inside with last season's transfer wonder, ex-Duke Blue Devil Crawford Palmer, gone.