After staging an electrifying second-half comeback against Boston College last night, the varsity basketball team's defense collapsed and the Crimson bowed to the Eagles, 57 to 45.

Holding a slim four-point lead at halftime, B.C. shot into a 28-29 lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter, and then began to freeze the ball. For four minutes this strategy--which had wrecked the Crimson against Amherst Saturday night--was successful. But three long jump shots by Gene Augustine, Pete Kelley, and Denny Lynch, combined with some sterling defensive play, whittled the gap to three points with 9:05 remaining in the contest.

B.C. put a quick end to its futile possession-play strategy, but Harvard was able to tighten the score to 43 to 41 with the clock showing 4:30. Then the roof fell in.

Sophomore guard George Humann, who played brilliantly all night for the Eagles, scored on a fast break after a jump shot by Leo Scully had failed. Then B.C. repeatedly moved over, under, around, and through the pell-mell Crimson defense, scoring six times in the next three minutes, all on shots from less than five feet out.

The Crimson started the game in colorless fashion, dropping behind 26 to 14 in the first half. B.C. continually drove through the porous Crimson defense, and had it not been for the ineptness of pivot man Frank Richichi, the Eagles might have had a 20-point lead. B.C. was paced in the first half by the spectacular shooting of Humann, who collected 19 points in the contest and hit for 69 per cent from the floor.

Harvard, however, was forced to rely on its outside shooting, and in the early stages of the contest it wasn't too hot. But late in the first half, Harvard showed its first real signs of life. Behind 28 to 16, the Crimson reeled off eight straight points: Leo Scully connected on a pair of jump shots from outside the key, Al Bornheimer bucketed a long set shot, and Pete Kelley capped the first half action with a layup that made the score 28 to 24.

With Humann pacing their attack, B.C. outshot the Crimson, 41 to 31 per cent. Harvard successfully contained the much-publicized duo of Gerry Ward and Charlie Carr, who had collected 43 points in the Eagles' opener against Miami, but Humann made up the difference.

The Crimson did not have any one standout; Pete Kelley and Gene Augustine shared scoring honors with ten points each.