TIGERS, INDIANS PICKED AS LEAGUE VICTORS; CRIMSON SEEN AS ERRATIC

New York, March 2--Four teams still have a mathematical chance to tie for the title in the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League but in view of the remaining games on the schedule, only two of them--Dartmouth and Princeton--are conceded much of a chance. That's the picture as the circuit ends a week of intensive battling and plunges headlong into another.

Penn and Cornell are still in the running but the Indians can eliminate the Big Red tonight if they register their expected triumph over Columbia. Then on Wednesday, even should the Quakers complete a successful invasion of Princeton, the defending champions can ring down the curtain on the Philadelphians by topping Yale at Hanover.

Whether Dartmouth, which took a big stride forward by defeating Cornell, 68 to 53, Saturday night, can shake off Princeton is another matter. Ossie Cowles' quintet did its best to quell the Tiger threat by turning back the New Jersey quintet on two occasions, but so far no one else in the league has ben able to halt the Nassau entry.

The answer could come as early as Wednesday or it might be postponed for almost a fortnight. Whereas the Indians play their last league contest day after tomorrow, Princeton has a full third of its schedule left. The Tigers entertain Penn on Wednesday and go to Ithaca on Saturday in two vital battles. Columbia must be met at home on the 11th and the annual game in the Palestra, which has concluded the Princeton schedule for the past 15 years, is set for March 14. The indications are that that if the Tigers go down clawing just once, the Indians will set a new league record by making it five in a row.

Harvard's 53-40 victory over Penn was an upset when the season's records of the two teams are taken into account, but it does not come as such an astounding surprise if a chart of the Crimson's performance is consulted. Earl Brown's entry has been hot and cold alternately all year. The Cantabs lost to Cornell and subdued Dartmouth in successive games as the campaign opened.

New Scoring Record

Over Washington's birthday weekend, they established a new scoring record in thumping Columbia, then bowed rather meekly to Army in a non-league encounter. On Friday, Harvard never got started against Princeton, losing 54 to 32, but apparently it threw away the safety valve as it reached Philadelphia. For example, the trio of Ed Buckley, Bunks Burditt and Don Lutze, held to a total of 11 points on Friday night, tallied 38 the following evening.

Two on nights this year were all the Indians permitted themselves. They were definitely up for the encounter with Cornell at Ithaca, led by 32-25 at the half and despite the good work of Bill Stewart and Sam Hunter, kept well out in front for the rest of the Journey. Bob Meyers, who scored 18 points as the Green defeated Columbia on Monday, registered another 21 against Cornell to pace the much-needed triumph. That 66-23 victory over the Lions, incidentally, combined with the win on Saturday, gave the Indians a total of 134, by far the highest ever recorded by a league team in two consecutive contests.

Individual Scoring Race

The one-point margin he held in the Cornell game over Jim Olsen served to give George Munroe the lead in the individual scoring race, the first time in several weeks he has been in front of his rangy teammate. Their respective total of the 10 games are 144 and 143.

Back in third place, by virtue of two of his usual good performances, is Bill Stewart of Cornell, who has 120 in 10 games. He is closely followed by George Lawry of Princeton, with 117 in eight contests and Bunks Burditt, of Harvard, with 116 in nine. Other top men for their teams are Chuck Viguers, Penn, 87; Tom Vogt, Yale, 86; and Les Martens, Columbia, 63.