Frosh Cagers Destroy Green Machine

The freshman basketball team, paced by Ray McGuire's 25 points, destroyed the favored Green Machine of Dartmouth, 78-59, in the IAB yesterday.

The Crimson had lost to the Dartmouth freshmen in a closely contested game at Hanover in January, 49-45, but that did not phase Coach "Buddy" O'Neil. "We'll beat them," he predicted before the game. "They beat us before, but we'll make it up to them."

Dartmouth came out gunning and took a quick 11-5 lead behind the sizzling shooting of their high scorer, Darryl Piggee. Harvard couldn't penetrate Dartmouth's tight zone and looked disorganized.

Things looked even bleaker when Crimson playmaker Rick Benvel went down on the court, clutching his knee in pain. His loss would have been costly, because as Coach O'Neil said, "He is the most improved player on the team and a vital cog to our offense."

Fortunately for the Crimson, Bob Hooft was able to handle the play making until Bengel's return five minutes later, and Ray McGuire started rippling the twine with 20-foot jumpers.

In the next ten minutes, McGuire combined with Hooft and Alexander James to turn an 11-5 deficit into a 32-19 advantage. The Harvard press was forcing Dartmouth to commit repeated turnovers and the tight man-to-man defense caused the Green Machine to travel time after time.

After a stirring rendition of "Go, you mighty Crimson" in a three-part harmony by enthusiastic cheerleaders, the second half started. Harvard began right where it left off, with Rick Bengel scoring on two spectacular drives, and Alexander James hitting four straight jump shots.

Harvard increased its lead to twenty-five points and won going away, for their fifth victory in a row, 78-59. McGuire was high scorer with 21 points, James had 17 and Hooft was close behind with 15. Coach O'Neil said of Harvard's success, "The kids are playing excellent defense. I also have let the kids go on offense, opening up more options. The performance of Bob Hooft sqeaks for itself, and Rick Bengel and Ray McGuire have improved tremendously."