Though the Harvard basketball team pulled within three points of Brown with two minutes remaining in last night's game in the LAB, the Crimson had neither the shooting nor the rebounding to overtake the Bruins and lost, 79-72.

The defeat, Harvard's seventh in a row, lowered the Crimson's Ivy Leagne mark to 1-12 and dropped the squad into its first eighth-place finish in 16 years.

Dismal Harvard

Harvard may be able to salvage its dismal season when it faces Yale, which lost, 69-66, to Dartmouth last night in Hanover, in an 8 p. m. contest in the IAB tonight. The Crimson freshman team meets the Yale freshmen in a 6 p. m. preliminary.

In last night's freshman game. Harvard's powerhouse outscored the Brown freshmen by 23 points in the second half and topped the Bruins, 87-67, for its 16th triunrph against two losses.

For the first eight minutes of last night's varsity game. Harvard and Brown traded missed lay-ups, but the Bruins established a pattern of rebounding dominance that eventually secured a Brown victory.

With the score tied, 19-19, the Bruins'sophomore forward Ar-nie Beerman, who led all scorers with 24 tallies and who controlled both the offensive and defensive boards by snatching 22 rebounds, made two free throws that gave Brown a lead it never lost.

By outrebounding the Crimson by 36-20 during the first half, the Bruins built up a 36-28 half-time advantage.

Miserable Harvard

Playing without 6' 7'? sophomore Brain Newmark, who twisted his ankle in the Cornell game last week, Harvard continued its miserable rebounding performance, and Brown stretched its lead to 15 points midway through the second half.

Then Crimson captain Ernest Hardy who paced Harvard with 17 points and 12 rebounds, tallied a lay-up. guard Joe Stanislaw made a fast-break lay-up, sophomore Matt Bozek scored a 15-foot jump shot and, the Crimson was back in the game.

Starting to run effectively for the first time in the game. Harvard narrowed the Bruin margin to 62-58. But the Crimson, which suffered from frequent fouling throughout the game, committed four more personal fouls, and Brown moved ahead, 69-60.

Harvard Close

Harvard once again closed the gap to 72-75 with two minutes left on a series of jump shots by Bozek, Stanislaw and Mike Janzcewski, all of whom finished with 12 points. The Bruins then tallied a lay-up and two more free throws to win their third Ivy contest.

In last night's freshman game. Brown moved to a 34-31 half-time lead on thestrength of good outside shooting from its forwards.

The Bruins stretched the margin to six points after five minutes of the second half, but then Harvard, sparked by James Brown, exploded for 14 straight points. Brown, who holds the freshman all-time scoring record with 395 tallies so far. finished with 23, while reserve center Tom Mustoe added 11.

Against Yale tonight, the Harvard varsity will have to stop All-Ivy guard Jim Morgan, who is averaging over 20 points a game, if it expects to upset the fourth-place Elis. Morgan paced Yale to an 86-75 victory four weeks ago in New Haven with a 23-point performance.