All the drama and tension of a pulp magazine sports thriller was translated into fact at the Boston Arena Saturday night, when substitute forward John Noble scored three points in the last 59 seconds of play to give the Varsity basketball team a 46 to 42 victory over Yale before 4092 near-hysteric patrons.
It was Harvard's first victory over the Elis in any major sport since September, and it would have provided script material for Burt L. Standish, creator of the Frank Merriwell series--except that Merriwell came from Yale.
Crimson Leads at Half
Things started tamely enough, with the Crimson moving to a 22 to 19 lead at the end of an exciting but sloppy first half. But after six minutes of the second half, with the Varsity leading 32 to 27, Captain Saul Mariaschin, playing his last game, was ousted on five personal fouls--at least two of which were dubious infractions.
With their best playmaker and set shot out of action, the Crimson failed to produce a point for almost nine minutes, and the Bulldogs scored 10 points, paced by football heroes Art Fitzgerald and Ferd Nadherny, to take a 37 to 32 lead.
Varsity Moves Up
Yale was still five points ahead at the 17-minute mark, when Bill Henry's two-pointer and a foul by George Hauptfuhrer sandwiched a Tony Lavelli free throw to bring the Varsity up to a three-point deficit.
Bill Brady dropped a long set shot to narrow the Bulldog margin to a single point, and then, as the Elis attempted to freeze the ball, Bill Henry intercepted a pass, fed Noble, and the Senior forward drove in for a lay-up which put the Crimson ahead, 43 to 42, in the first second of the final minute of play. Yale came roaring back, but lost the ball on a hasty pass, and in desperation, Nadherny fouled Noble, who calmly converted.
Brady Fouled at End
Again the Elis moved to the attack, and another bad pass cost them the ball. In the last second of play, Nadherny bunny-hugged Brady, and the stocky Varsity guard, who shared scoring honors with George Hauptfuhrer with 12 points, added two anti-climactic fouls while Harvard supporters cast off historic indifference, crowded the sidelines, and exuberantly celebrated their victory.
While all this was going on, Yale's Tony Lavelli was making a futile effort to mark up the needed 16 points which would have tied Columbia's Walt Budko for Ivy League individual scoring honors. The Crimson employed a shifting man-to-man defense which dropped two extra players back to guard Lavelli every time he received the ball, but the Eli ace still managed to come close to the record, scoring 13 points.
Thus, in the most exciting if hardly the most brilliant performance of the year, Coach Bill Barclay's team closed its season with a 16-9 record, and tied Dartmouth for fourth place in the Ivy League with five wins and seven losses. It was a fitting climax for a well-coached team with not enough topflight personnel to be called exceptional.
The Varsity summary:
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