In its only activity over the Christmas vacation, the Crimson varsity took third place in the first annual New England College Basketball Tournament at the Dartmouth court in Hanover, N.H.

The five won twice and lost once in the eight team tourney to bring its record to four and four for the season. Its wins were against Amherst and Sprinfield, and it lost to the host team.

Norm Shepard's squad opened the meet with a 69 to 49 victory over Amberst. After jumping to a 15 to 6 lead at the quarter, the varsity slipped, and the jells were able to tighten the gap to 43 to 39 in the third period.

At that point, Bill Dennis flipped in eight of his 12 points to ice the game. Steady Harry Sacks paced the scoring with 28, and Ed Condon was third high scorer with eight.

The victory put the Crimson into the semi-finals against Dartmouth. The Indians triumphed, 77 to 69, for their sixth straight win of the season. The under dog varsity was behind all the way, and only a 28-point splurge in the fourth quarter kept the Crimson from a severe trouncing.

Sacks High Scorer

Once again Sacks led the way with 22 points, including 16 free throws. Dennis followed with 16, and sophomore Bob Bowman had his best night to date with 13. Captain Ed Krinsky, who scored line, fouled out, as did Condon and Rollin Perry.

The next night, the Green five lost the title game to the University of Connecticut, the tourney favorite. Art Quimby; voted the most valuable player in the tournament, paced the UConns to their ninth consecutive win of the year, 70 to 58.

In a preliminary game, the Crimson beat Springfield, 56 to 45, to take third place in the holiday event. Norm Shepard's team was never behind, but held only a slim 13 to 11 lead at the quarter. From there, it proceeded to pull away, with the dependable Dennis taking top honors with 18 points.

The Gymnasts were able to hold Sacks to a mere 14 points, however, before he fouled out, but Ed Blodnick helped fill the slack with ten, and Ed Condon added seven more. The Crimson piled up a field goal margin of 18 to 11, to make up for a deficit in the free throw column.

Behind the fourth place Springfield team, Brown, Middlebury, Amherst, and Colby finished in that order in the first annual New England College Basketball Tournament.

In its game previous to the Dartmouth tourney, the Crimson varsity bowed to Tufts, 71 to 68, on Dec. 18. Blodnick took scoring honors in the narrow defeat at the Indoor Athletic Building with 17. Dennis tallied 16 for the losing cause, and Sacks counted 14.