Eliot House defeated two-time champion Kirkland, 52-40, to take the House basketball championship last night. Eliot's win avenged two previous losses to Kirkland during the regular season.

Mike Aron, Dan Orlovsky, and Dean Rau sparked Eliot with hot shooting as Master Finley's boys repeatedly used the fast break to smash Kirkland's zone press. Eliot's free lance offense outran and out-shot Kirkland's patterned attack which suffered from the loss of two of its offensive stars.

Kirkland's Dave Thomas missed the game because of knee injuries suffered late in the season, and offensive spark-plug Bo Keefe left the game after a few minutes with an ankle sprain.

The vaunted Kirkland defense fell apart in the face of Eliot's sharp passing. Defensive genius Tom Williamson guarded Orlovsky well, but Eliot's other shooters consistently broke free for jump shots and layups. Eliot controlled the boards, offsetting Kirkland's usual rebounding advantage.

Last night's game finished a season that saw Eliot, Kirkland, and Quincy Houses finish in a three-way tie for first with identical 11-4 records. Eliot took the first half of the three-way playoff Wednesday night with a 66-48 victory over Quincy. Aron and Orlovsky again scored in double figures against Kirkland, as they had done against Quincy.

Two brief scuffles erupted during the tense game. Eliot was high for an upset, while Kirkland fought to defend the title they held for the past two years.

Eliot will represent Harvard against Yale's intramural champion at the IAB Saturday.

In a preliminary game, Holworthy, led by high school all-American Mike Norlander, edged out Matthews North, 48-45, for the freshman intramural championship.