MIDDLEBURY, Vt., Dec. 16--The varsity basketball team used only five men tonight to break a three-game losing streak and overcome a last minute surge by a spirited Middlebury quintet, 54-51.

Although Middlebury outscored the Crimson from the floor, Coach Floyd Wilson's squad won the game from the free-throw line, setting 18 out of 24, against 7 out of 12 for Middlebury. The lead changed hands nine times in a game that left Harvard ahead 39-36 at half-time.

Midway through the second half, when the score was tied 41-41, Harry Sacks and Bob Dolven paced the Crimson to nine consecutive points. But then, with less than a minute remaining, Middlebury pulled up to three points off the lead but was unable to take the varsity.

Dolven was high scorer with five field goals and eight foul shots for a total of 18 points. Sacks followed with 16. Tom Hart was Middlebury's high man with 15.

Third in Crimson scoring was Captain Roger Bulger with ten points. He was followed by Neil Muncaster with seven points and forward Dick Manning had three points.

Dartmouth Tonight

The Crimson's victory was its second, against three losses. After beating North-eastern, the team went on to lose to Brown, Syracuse, and Cornell. The team meets a favored Dartmouth five tonight at Hanover. Coach Doggie Julian's Indians led by 6-1 Captain Glonn Wilson, are undefeated after beating Vormont, Middlebury, and Norwich.

The varsity moves to Storrs, Conn., on Monday, Dec. 27, for the annual New England Intercollegiate Basketball Tourney. Last year at Hanover, the Crimson took third place, losing to Dartmouth in the semi-finals. Connecticut, the defending champion, in favored to retain its title. The other competing teams are Massachusetts, Brown, Middlebury, Amherst, and Colby.

In the Ivy League standings last year Cornell and Princeton both had 11 and 3 records, but Cornell took the title by beating Princeton in a playoff game. Penn was third, followed by Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, and Harvard. An Ivy League coaches' poll picked the weak Crimson team to finish last again this year.