Tony Lavelli won't be plaguing the Harvard basketball team tonight at the Arena, but the Valies are still outside favorites to beat the Crimson for the fifth time in three years. The Ivy Leaguers meet at 9:30 p.m. St. Michael's plays St. Ansehn's at 7:45.
The pre-season guessers, bemoaning the graduation of Lavelli, along with Coach Howie Hobson, had placed the Elis to finish about fourth in the League. But Jim Osbourn is filling in very adequately for Lavelli (15 point League average), and with the team working better together as a unit, Yale now appears to have clinched second place in the Elis.
Yale has recently dropped two close games (61 to 49, 64 to 61) to Princeton, which soundly beat the Crimson twice, and the comparative scores give a fairly accurate picture. The Elis lost primarily because, like Harvard, they are dependent upon one man--Osbourn.
But Yale came close to beating Princeton. Unlike the Crimson, it had the speed to keep up with the Tigers and a tight enough defense to keep Princeton from exploding.
Play Fast Break
Working from a fast break, with Ferd Nadherny and Hal Upjohn bringing the ball up court, the Elis are expected to be able to outmaneuver the Crimson man to man defense about as effectively as the Tigers did. Harvard must check this attack tonight if it hopes to win because the Bulldogs' 2-3 zone defense has been holding the rest of the League to a 51 point average.
Using this defense, Hobson is willing to give his opponents outside shots in return for possession of the ball. It will undoubtedly work again tonight--the Crimson is not particularly noted for its outside game.
Coach Norm Shepard expects to open with the same lineup which he used against Princeton Tuesday night. Dick Covey, defensive specialist, will start again at right guard.
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