Cagers Fall to Columbia, 96-82

The Harvard cagers simply could not keep pace with fast-breaking Columbia last night and succumbed to the Lions' superior quickness, 96-82, before a near capacity crowd at the IAB.

The Crimson, who dropped to 6-7 in the Ivies with one game remaining, stayed close throughout the first half, but, shooting a miserable 37 per cent against Columbia's blistering 60 per cent, Harvard fell further and further behind in the final period.

In the first eight minutes of the second half, Columbia outscored the Crimson 23-9, opened up a 17-point lead and turned an interesting contest into a rout.

Juan Mitchell popped in three from mid-range and added two free throws as the Lions took control. Unheralded John McElaney (averaging less than one point per game) teamed with Alton Byrd to connect on several back-door buckets as the Crimson was forced into a man-to-man defense and could not compensate for Columbia's quickness.

"As long as we played the zone we could stay with them," coach Frank McLaughlin said after the game. "But once they got ahead and we had to go to man-to-man, they were just too quick for us," he added.

Consecutive lay-ups by McElaney earned Columbia its largest lead of the evening, 19 points, 70-51, with just under ten minutes left to play. Behind the efforts of graduating co-captain Bob Hooft, who registered a game-high 25 points, the Crimson cut the advantage to ten with 4:35 and then again with 3:27 still remaining. However, the accurate foul shooting of Byrd and Columbia's running style soon moved the margin back up over 15.

The Crimson fell behind by as much as ten points in the first half, but came back to knot the score at 37 only two minutes later. The "tall" team of Glenn Fine (14 assists), Mark Harris, Dave Coatsworth, Hooft and Fleming reeled off three unanswered baskets. But Columbia capitalized on two Harvard mistakes and went into the dressing room with a three-point spread, 41-38.

Co-captains Fine and Hooft will see their final action in a Harvard jersey tomorrow night in the IAB as the cagers take on Cornell, the team that boasts the dubious distinction of holding last place in the Ivy League. After last night's disappointing loss, Hooft hopes "to get one last win" tonight.

RIM RAMBLINGS: Hooft is just one point shy of 1000 career points at Harvard. If he picks up a couple in tonight's matchup, he will become the seventh man in Harvard basketball history to surpass the mark... This year's roundball banquet will feature Al McGuire, former Marquette coaching great, as speaker. The dinner will be held April 8 and is open to the general public. Anyone interested in attending should call 5-4856 for tickets and further information. HARVARD  FG  FT  REB  PF  A  TP Mannix  2-4  2-2  0  0  0  6 Coatsworth  1-2  0-3  4  2  0  2 Allen  2-5  0-0  4  5  0  4 Harris  5-11  0-1  1  5  2  10 Hooft  9-20  7-9  6  0  1  25 Taylor  3-5  0-1  0  2  0  6 Fine  1-7  0-1  3  4  14  2 Clarke  0-2  2-5  2  0  0  2 Fleming  9-21  5-7  9  5  0  23 Mundy  1-3  0-0  1  0  0  0 Trumbuil  0-0  0-0  0  0  0  0 Totals  33-80  16-29  38  23  17  82 COLUMBIA  FG  FT  REB  PF  A  TP Free  7-13  4-5  10  4  3  18 Schatz  0-0  0-0  0  0  0  0 Byrd  4-7  10-13  3  4  11  18 Rutecki  0-0  0-0  0  0  0  0 Mahoney  3-3  0-0  1  2  1  6 Fields  3-6  0-0  2  5  0  6 Cotner  7-15  2-4  11  4  0  16 Mitchell  10-17  3-4  4  4  6  23 McElaney  3-3  2-2  2  3  0  8 Smith  0-1  1-2  0  0  0  0  1 Totals  37-65  22-30  41  26  21  96   Score by Periods COLUMBIA  41  55 -- 96 HARVARD  38  44 -- 82