A 100-point scoring spree that set a new Harvard record was the bright spot of the basketball team's performance in the Waterville, Me., New England College Tournament over the vacation.
After losing its opening game, 78 to 66, to Bowdoin, on December 28, the Crimson came back the next night to overwhelm Middlebury, 100 to 51. The score beat the previous record, set December 8, 1949, when the team crushed Boston University, 86 to 60. In the team's final game of the tourney. Amherst reversed an earlier decision by thrashing the varsity, 91 to 61, for third place.
Ike Canty, who averaged 19 points per game, was named to the all-tournament team, the first Crimson player so honored in the event's three-year history.
Haughey Scores 17
A very poor first quarter in which the varsity trailed 14 to 2 at one point and inaccurate shooting were the decisive factors in the loss to Bowdoin. Phil Haughey's 17 points, Canty's 14, and Dick Hurley's 11 were not enough to offset an overall field goal accuracy of only 28 per cent and an inadequate 61 per cent on free throws.
But against Middlebury the team came work out in a special training program at North Conway sponsored by the United States Eastern Amateur Ski Association. back with one of its strongest performances of the season, sinking 40 per cent of its field goal attempts and a remarkable 46 for 55, or 84 per cent, on free throws.
Middlebury Coach Tony Lupien, whose team had edged the Crimson, 50 to 46, two weeks earlier, changed tactics radically. His team had played a waiting game at the IAB before, but this time he started his second five and had them press the Crimson quintet all over the court in hopes of tiring it. The victors scored easily from the start, and had built up a 49-17 lead by half-time. Canty's 22 points paced the victory, and Lou Lowenfels was second high man with 14. Bill Riggs tallied 12, and Hurley and Bob Hastings sank 10 each.
Canty Gets 21 Points
This performance could not be repeated against Amherst, however. The Crimson got off to a bad start, missing several easy shots in the opening minutes. The Jeffs had a lead of about 15 at half-time, and Coach Floyd Wilson gambled on a press, which had enabled his team to upset Amherst, 62 to 55, in the season's opener, but it failed to work. Canty was high scorer with 21 points.
Read more in News
The Music Box