WORCESTER, Dec. 13--Holy Cross had too much height, speed, shooting, and ability for the varsity basketball team tonight as the Crimson fell to a 72 to 37 defeat. The Yardlings lost to the Crusader freshman squad, 93 to 51.

The worst news for Coach Norm Shepard was not the crushing defeat, but the recurrence of an old leg injury which forced Captain Ed Smith to leave the game with six minutes left to play in the first half. Smith may be able to play against Navy Saturday, but it is now fairly certain that he has a chronic injury which will hamper him all year.

Two act shots by Smith gave the Crimson a 7 to 3 lead after four minutes of play. This was Harvard's high point of the evening. For the remainder of the half the Crimson managed to score nine more points while the home team racked up 37.

One big reason for the Crimson's inability to score was the double-teaming job the Crusaders did on Dick Lionette. Lionette, who has averaged 20 points a game, was held to eight by the guarding of six-foot seven Jim Kielley behind him and another Crusader in front who kept the ball away from him.

Crusader coach Buster Sheary started a quintet in which the smallest man was an even six feet tall. Every man on the squad was a competent rebounder, and at times the Cross was able to put up as many as five shots in a row before the Crimson got the ball.

The speed which Shepard feared became evident as Holy Cross scored time and time again off a three-against-two fast break. The Crusader's weaving offense off Kielley's pivot often sprung men loose under the basket; that it was effective is demonstrated by the fact that every man on the first team had between eight and 14 points.

The Crimson during most of the first half and a great deal of the second looked a little awed by the Crusaders' ability. At one time the varsity threw the ball away three straight times as it brought the ball down-court. The close defense of the winners prevented the Crimson from working the ball inside the foul line.

Except for Gerry Murphy, who scored six points on push shots in the five minutes he played, the varsity appeared rattled and hurried as it shot. Not only did the shots fail to go in, but they were taken from bad angles and at bad times.

One of the most discouraging features of the game was the evident fact that Holy Cross played far from a spotless game, tossing the ball away almost as much as the Crimson.

The Holy Cross publicity agent who called their freshman squad one of the best in the East could very well be right. The young Crusaders showed almost every tric k in the book in the victory. Six foot three Togo Palazzi was amazingly accurate in his shots, and poured in 41 points, Ronnie Perty, from Somerville, made 18