Harvard's chances for the Ivy League basketball crown went down the drain Saturday night when it was upset by an inspired Brown quintet, 65-60.

At halftime the Bruins led, 32-28, after having a nine-point lead evaporate during the first stanza. James Brown scored on a fast break after 30 seconds of play in the second half, but for the next four minutes it was all Brown. The five Bruin sophomores went on a tear that gave them the next 12 points and a 44-30 lead.

Led by shifty guard Eddie Morris, Brown extended its lead to 16 before Harvard began a comeback. With Tony Jenkins and James Brown doing most of the damage, the Crimson rebounded to within three with 56 seconds left, but Brown, using a stall offense for the last 10 minutes of the second half, was able to kill the clock.

Brown Stall

After the game, coach Bob Harrison said that the cagers were unprepared for the Brown stall which utilized three guards out by midcourt and two forwards deep in the corners. On numerous occasions, the Brown guards would break by their defenders and either head to the basket or pass off to the cornermen. The cornermen then had the option of shooting or passing the ball back out to the guards to start the play again.

Brown coach Jerry Alaimo said that he had employed the 3-2 stall offense quite frequently this season. His statement raises the question whether the Harvard staff did an effective job scouting the Bruins if they were not aware of their offensive stall.

Rebounding Troubles

Alaimo also said that he was pleased with the rebounding of sophomore center Phil Brown who brought down 14 off the backboards. The Bruin mentor added that a key to the game was the failure of the Harvard forwards to dominate the boards.

Against Penn, a ballclub similar to Harvard, we were outrebounded by 30. Tonight we didn't do badly at all," he said. Harvard outrebounded Brown, 45-39.

The cagers' Ivy League record is now 4-3 leaving them two games behind Penn and Princeton. Even if Harvard beats both the Tigers and the Quakers in the final week of the season they will finish behind both squads unless one of them should lose to another league quintet.

Brown raised its record to 7-10 and its league mark to 5-3 with the win.

Harvard's shooting was below par as the cagers only hit 38 per cent of their attempts. The Bruins connected on 45 per cent of their shots.

Jenkins had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Harvard and Brown added 15 points. For the Bruins, Morris had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Vaughn Clarke and Lloyd Desvigne shared scoring honors with 13 points.

The Crimson's next contest is Tuesday night against Dartmouth at the IAB. Harvard is now 11-8 overall.