Cager Comeback Drops Cornell, 74-69

Last Saturday night's Harvard-Cornell encounter at the IAB made one glad of one thing--there are no more basketball games for nine months. In an incredibly sloppy, boring exhibition of intercollegiate basketball, the Crimson ended its up-one-week-down-another season with a come-from-behind, 74-69 triumph over the not so Big Red of Cornell.

Any team that manages to fall behind by 11-points (21-10) to this Cornell outfit deserves little more than sympathy, let alone a victory. The Big Red brought a 7-16 record into the contest, including one loss to Columbia, Enough said.

Individual Effort

The Crimson, however, apparently thought that its season had concluded on Friday night against the Lions. In fact, the only reason that Harvard emerged victorious was the result of the efforts of one individual.

That person was not Mike Griffin, who ended his varsity career and an otherwise fine season with one measly point. Nor was it Arnie Needleman, who didn't even conclude his Harvard career with that many.

Brian Banks helped out (12 points), but he was too deep in foul trouble throughout most of the second half to be of much assistance. Even Lou Silver, despite another steady game of 17 points and 10 rebounds, was not Saturday's hero.

No, the man responsible for Harvard's fifth consecutive win was co-captain Len Adams, who came off the bench and ended his Harvard playing days with a career high of 24 points. It was Adams, normally known as a defensive forward, who made 11 of 14 shots, many on offensive rebounds of all varieties, who brought the Crimson back from an early deficit to a 32-32 halftime deadlock, and who kept his team alive during the first ten minutes of the second half.

At this point, Adams relinquished the hero's role to Bill Carey, who heretofore had been ineffective. In the next six minutes. Carey scored 12 of Harvard's 17 points, and led the Crimson into a four-point, 66-62 advantage. As they had throughout this half, the teams then exchanged baskets until, with just 33 seconds left, Cornell's best player, Maynard Brown (19 points), sank a jumper to make the score 70-69 in favor of the Crimson.

Carey then clinched the victory by making a lay-up with 19 seconds remaining. Silver's two foul shots ten seconds later were responsible for the final five-point margin. Adams hauled in 10 rebounds to go with his game-high total of 24 points, while Max Jones also scored 19 points to co-lead the Cornell attack with Brown.

As a result of Harvard's triumph, in combination with Brown's 89-57 thrashing at the hands of Penn, the Crimson is finishing in a tie with the Bruins for third place in the Ivy League. While this may sound impressive, the manner in which Harvard reached the deadlock was anything but impressive.

The Crimson threw the ball away on numerous occasions, and only its immense talent advantage, which proved decisive in the end, enabled Harvard to achieve the victory.