For 32 minutes last night, Harvard looked entirely different from the last-place team which has represented the Crimson for the past three seasons. But in the final eight minutes, the varsity fell completely apart, losing its Ivy League opener to Brown, 51 to 38.

The 900 fans who saw Coach Floyd Wilson absorb his first defeat as head coach, also saw a Crimson team which played an exceptionally strong defensive game, but which could only sink 14 of 64 shots, while Brown had 17 for 54.

Using the switching man-to-man defense adopted by Wilson this year, the varsity held Brown's scoring ace, Ed Tooley, to 11 points in limiting the Bruins to the smallest number of points they have scored in two seasons.

Behind at the half, 22 to 20, the varsity, led by the team play of Captain Roger Bulger, Dick Manning, Lou Lowenfels, Rollin Perry, and Harry Sacks, came back strongly to tie Brown, 32 to 32, when Lowenfels, a six foot sophomore, sank two foul shots.

With 12 minutes left in the game, Ed Kincade tossed in a jump shot, but Perry re-tied the score with a long set. At the ten-minute mark of the half, Perry's foul shot put the Crimson ahead for the only time in the game, 35 to 34. After Bill Arnold gave the Bruins a one-point lead on a pair of fouls, Sack's foul shot gave the varsity its last tie, 36 to 36.

Sacks Fouls Out

In the last eight minutes the Crimson scored only two points, while Brown gained 15. Eight of Brown's points were scored after Sacks fouled out with three minutes to play.

Bulger, who was Crimson high scorer with 12 points, kept the varsity in the game for the first half, pulling it up from a nine-point deficit, 19-10, with eight points, including three long sets. But if the crowd had to pick a local here, it would be the spirited Lowenfels.

Entering the game late in the first half, Lowenfels gave some life to a team which had been playing listlessly up to then. He and Bulger worked well on defense, and frequently stole the ball on defense. Manning, who was mostly responsible for holding down Tooley's scoring total, also did a good job of rebounding, along with Sacks.

The freshman team, despite Charlie Woole's 16 points, dropped its second straight last night. Brown overcame a four-point half-time deficit to win, 71 to 50.