The Dream That Died

And suddenly there is nothing. It all came crashing down last night, and the dream of capturing the Ivy League championship, in all practicality, no longer exists.

Oh, how glorious it would all be. For the past two weeks, the title the one a Harvard men's basketball team has never seized--had been tantalizingly dangling just out of the cagers' grasp. And after each successive Crimson victory, it all seemed to have finally come within reach. They could feel it. They began to anticipate the sweet taste which accompanies being the best.

But Cornell stole everything when it defeated the Crimson, 76-67, at Briggs Athletic Center last night. Wow, it's over.

None of the cagers would admit it, though, immediately after the game. And they continued to hope.

Because it wasn't the plan. It just couldn't end this way.

"We're not mathematically out of it," junior Joe Carrabino said.

"We can't feel any worse than we did the night of the Penn game," Harvard Coach Frank McLaughlin said. "You never know what's going to happen. You just never know what's going to happen tomorrow night."

"We still have to remember that Cornell could lose to Dartmouth and that Princeton could lose one this weekend," senior Co-Captain Plutnicki said, for whom the defeat must feel the worst. He won't have another shot at the championship. "We have to keep our heads up," he added.

But both Cornell and Princeton won't lose to night. And when the cagers dig deep, they know that. Then the hurt begins to sting, and the profound disappointment is realized.

"Realistically, I know it's a long shot, but we have to hope. That's all you can do once you lose control of your own destiny," Plutnicki said a little later, with his voice growing weaker and the silent gaps between his words growing longer.

"Have faith...have hope. That's all you can do," he added, "I don't really think that both teams will lose tomorrow, but that's the only light at the end of the tunnel."

The Crimson death proved to be a slow one: it lasted practically the entire game Always trying to play catch-up, sometimes getting as close as three. But the Big Red, after each Crimson burst, shot back with one of its own.

The visitors shot close to 60 percent from the field, almost all of their field goals coming from the perimeter. Their defense proved to be practicably impenetrable. And Cornell positioned itself so well within the key that time after time. Harvard drew offensive fouls.

Not since mid-season had it been so difficult for Harvard to manuever its way inside the key. And, down the stretch, Cornell even managed to beat Harvard at its own game--the free throw.

* * *

But even with all those assets which Cornell demonstrated last night, it still could have been defended if it weren't for one additional game-deciding factor--the raucous, rowdy, inspiring Cornell fans which accompanied the team from Ithaca.

"It felt like we were playing on the road tonight," Harvard Assistant Coach Julio Diaz said, "I'm sure that it helped Cornell do it. They were pretty loud out there."

"Let's go Big Red!...Harvard sucks," all 300 cried in a rapturous thunder, their clamor muting the hollow sound of the Harvard band.

When Harvard scored its first bucket of the evening only a bit of uninspired applause emanated from the stands, but when Cornell sank its first two points, streamers flooded the court and Briggs Cage simultaneously erupted, into an uncontrolled frenzy.

The noise of Cornell's 300 seemed to equal or even surpass Harvard's 2550.

And after it had ended, the Cornell partisans swarmed the court in a wild frenzy.

Said a person who entered Briggs Cage, just immediately after the game's end, as he saw the euphoric mob: "Ah, Harvard won I see."

No, Harvard lost, but in actuality it lost only the title. In its proper perspective, Harvard had a great year, the best in its history.

When the immediate sensation of such bitter sorrow fades, the Crimson will be able to reflect positively on the season as a whole.

"Instead of looking at the havenots, you have to look at what we've accomplished," Plutnicki said. "We turned the program around since last season. We've gained a lot of regional as well as national recognition. We set a new free throw record...Yes, we all play basketball for the purpose of winning a championship, but we also play because we like the game."