Brown's stubborn basketball team nearly spoiled the Varsity quintet's home-coming last night, but the Crimson came from behind in the last ten minutes, inspired by the insertion of John Gantt into the lineup, and swept past the Bruins to a 53 to 40 victory.

Both of Coach Bill Barclay's scoring aces, George Hanptfuhrer and Captain Saul Mariaschin were effectively shackled for the first thirty minutes of play, and the Varsity's narrow, 20 to 18 halftime lead was overcome by the Providence contingent early in the second half. Brown led 28 to 23 after six minutes, the Crimson rallied to the score, and the Bruins held a 31 to 30 edge after eight-and-a-half minutes.

Watch the Crimson Roll

At this point, the Varsity started to click. Mariaschin put his team in the lead with a running hook shot, and Gantt's speed enabled him to tally three baskets on fast breaks between Brown scores in the next five minutes to give Harvard a four-point lead.

By dropping back a man on the side opposite the Crimson ballhandler in a shifting defense, the Bruins were able to put two players on Hauptfuhrer in the pivot, a move which all but crippled the Varsity offense. After Gantt broke loose for his three tallies, the Brown team was forced to play Hauptfuhrer more loosely, and George responded with a scoring spurt of his own, scoring eight of his fourteen points after Gantt entered the contest.

Free Throws Important

Astounding accuracy from the foul-line was also responsible for the Varsity triumph. Seventeen of twenty-four free throws were converted by the Crimson, who scored only one more field goal than the Bruins. Of their first thirteen foul tries, the Barclay forces caged twelve.

In every department of play except shooting, where the Varsity had woeful luck in the first half, the Barclay team showed considerable improvement. Leo Page was especially alert on rebounds off the Crimson backboard, following his shots aggressively, and Bill Henry and Bill Harford were steady guards.

For the Bruins, Captain George Grimshaw led the scorers with thirteen points, while Paul Flick guarded George Hauptfuhrer doggedly in the pivot. HARVARD   G  F  P Davis, lf  1  3  5 Gantt  3  1  7 Noble  0  0  0 Page, rf  3  2  8 Petrillo  0  0  0 Hauptfuhrer, c  5  4  14 Nelson  0  0  0 Mariaschin, lg  3  3  9 Harford, rg  1  1  3 Henry  2  2  6 Gannon  0  1  1 Totals  18  17  53 BROWN   G  F  P Grimshaw, lf  6  1  13 D'Angelo  0  0  0 Miller, rf  3  1  7 Flick, c  4  1  9 Muste  0  0  0 Schultz, lg  2  0  4 D. Zuber  1  1  3 P. Zuber  0  0  0 Friend  0  0  0 Corner, rg  1  2  4 Totals  17  6  40

Officials--Richard Roberts and Harry Greenberg

Half time score Harvard 20 Brown 18