The varsity basketball team will face Boston Collage at 8 p.m. in the IAB tonight in what could be a surprisingly tight contest--if the Crimson can overcome the nervousness and generally sloppy play that cost them a 51-41 decision to an Amherst quintet last Saturday.

The Eagles are favored on the basis of the teams' initial encounters this year. Sunday night they held heavily-favored Miami, which had the services of a 7 ft. behemoth at center, to a 72-69 win. Offensively, B.C. has two standouts: veteran center Garry Ward, who tallied 23 points against Miami; and sharp-shooting Charlie Carr, who scored 20 points in the same game, hitting on 10 out of 14 shots from outside the key.

But B.C. this year is a far cry from last year's squad, which compiled a 17-5 record and barely missed an N.I.T. bid. They are neither particularly experienced (Ward is the only holdover from last year's superb five), nor particularly tall (the quintet averages 6 ft., 2 in., and the tallest starter is only 6 ft., 4 in.).

The Crimson will probably start the same lineup which faced Amherst--forwards Bob Isman and Pete Kelley, center Vern Strand, and sophomore guards Al Bornheimer and Leo Scully. Denny Lynch, Merie McClung, and captain. Gene Augustine, who had been sidelined with a broken foot, may also see action tonight. Strand was lead scorer in the Crimson's bleak performance against the Lord Jeffs with nine points; Pete Kelley tallied eight.