The first five minutes of tonight's basketball game against Brown at 8 p.m. in the IAB could be crucial to Harvard's chances of topping the Bruins and climbing out of sole possession of the Ivy League basement.

In a 6 p.m. preliminary, the Crimson freshman squad will play the Brown freshmen. Harvard defeated the baby Bruins, 97-78. four weeks ago.

If Brown, which plays a slow-down possession style of game, gets an early lead tonight, it will be able to force the Crimson into that type of game. And Harvard, when forced out of its own fast break, plays sporadically at best. Consequently, the opening minutes of tonight's contest may foretell the outcome.

When the Crimson faced the Bruins at Providence last month. Harvard jumped to an early 19-5 advantage, and though it fell behind briefly during the second half, it pulled back ahead quickly and finally won, 79-67. Because Brown was never in control of the game. it never forced the Crimson to play slowdown basketball.

Early Lead

"We have to get an early lead." said coach Bob Harrison. "When we played Brown down there, we did it. and it eventually won the ball game for us," he explained.

Brown must play a control game out of necessity-the Bruin squad only has six members. Paced by sophomore forward Arnie Berman. the "Spirited Six," as a Brown press release dubs them, have recorded two Ivy League victories against Dartmouth. 74-66, and Cornell. 87-82.

Poor Rebounding

Harvard, on the other hand, has fallen to both the Big Green and the Big Red twice. In those games, the Crimson suffered from poor rebounding. With sophomore forward Brian Newmark not playing because of a twisted ankle, Harvard can anticipate more difficulty controlling the boards than it had four weeks ago against the Bruins.

Brown's front line-6'6" Berman, 6'7" center Bill Kolkineyer, and 6'3" forward Russ Tyler-has been responsible for the Bruins' success this winter. Berman, who's averaging 17.9 points a game. leads the Bruins in rebounding with almost 11 grabs per contest.

Harvard Line

In place of Newmark, Harrison will start 6'7" Mike Janzcewski. Six-foot Joe Stanislaw will be playing forward, Matt Bozek, Dale Dover, and Ernie Hardy will be in their regular assignments.

Harrison plans to use a zone defense to contain the Brown front line, and, if the zone is successful, the Crimson should capture its second Ivy victory, thereby tying the Bruins for last place.

"This game is very important because it's our last chance of getting out of the cellar," said guard Joe Stanislaw. "We've played up or down for our competition. but I think that we're psyched-up for this game," he added.