With an eye-popping display of shooting and rebounding skill, the Crimson basketball team last night demolished previously unbeaten M.I.T. 81 to 62 in what had promised to be a tight contest.

The I.A.B. stands overflowed with M.I.T. fans; the Engineers had noise, a band, and girl cheerleaders behind them. But it didn't faze a Harvard team which connected on 51 per cent of its shots and dominated the boards, 55 to 33.

Junior guard Al Bornbeimer has played in the shadows of Harvard's "big men" for most of his varisty career. But last night he had his finest night ever, pumping in 10 of 16 shots--all of them from at least 20 feet out.

Early Tech Lead

The game, in its opening minutes, was as close as it had been billed. Harvard had difficulty penetrating the Engineers' zone defense, and Tech eked out a 7-5 lead. That was their finest hour; then Merle McClung took over. The towering center collected the Crimson's next 11 points, and propelled Harvard into an 18-11 advantage.

But the game wasn't in the bag so early; McClung drew his third personal foul with 10:18 of the game gone, and was relegated to the bench. Even so, Harvard maintained its rebounding superiority (Bob Inman grabbed 14 during the game) and left the court with a 40-31 lead.

During the halftime break brief fisticuffs broke out between Harvard and M.I.T. fans, but the liveliness on the part of Tech didn't carry over into the basketball game.

The highly-touted Engineers never threatened. Despite the fine play of M.I.T. center Bill , the Crimson continued its sizzling shooting with Inman, McClung, Bornheimer, Keith Sedlscek, Barry Williams, and Leo Scully all having a hand in the rout. McClung was unstoppable under the basket, and the rest of the squad had a field day with long jump shots.

It has become more and more evident in the early stages of this season that Harvard is not going to be the most resistable force in the Ivy League campaign. The team now has a 5-1 record, and its performances against Wesleyan, Northeastern and M.I.T. indicate that even Ivy powerhouses Princeton and Yale had better watch out.

Harvard's last game before the holidays will be against Trinity in the I.A.B. Thursday; M.I.T. beat the Hilltoppers by a point earlier in the season, so the quintet should be able to get a breather before the Ivy wars begin next month.