The Harvard men's hoop team picked up its fourth Ivy League victory and gained a share of second place as it took charge of the game early and rolled over Brown, 76-57, in Saturday night's contest in the IAB.

With captain Glenn Fine controlling the ball for the Crimson and setting the tempo, Harvard built an eight-point lead midway through the first stanza. The Bruins' Chuck Mack sunk several long-distance jumpers to keep the offensively impotent Brown five in the ball game. Mack's effort, along with 88 per cent team accuracy from the charity stripe brought the Bruins to within three, 33-30, as the opening period came to a close.

Two minutes into the second half the Crimson caught fire, stretching its three point intermission bulge into a gaping 13-point advantage. Brown coach Joe Mullaney called three time-outs spaced only two minutes apart, but the interruptions did not squelch the surging Harvard hoopsters.

"Everybody was involved in our big run," Fine said. "We moved the ball around extremely well. It was a good team effort all around," he added.

Once the Crimson had staked out its commanding lead, the cold-shooting Brown squad could not mount a serious comeback. Overall the Bruins shot a scant 34 per cent from the field, while Harvard connected on 54 per cent of its attempts.

Like the Yale victory on Friday night, the Crimson matched up well with the Bruins, who do not possess a dominating giant in the center position. Although giving up some height to the slightly taller visitors from Providence, Harvard still managed to out-rebound the Bruins, 40-31, using their 1-2-1 zone.

"We are playing well again," Fine said. "We have regained our form from the beginning of the season, when we defeated Dartmouth and Fordham," he added. Manager Pat Fischer was even more impressed. "That was our best game since we beat Penn last year, except maybe our overtime loss to Arizona State," he said.

Harvard is currently tied with Brown for second place in the Ivy League. To hold on to that slot, the Crimson needs at least a split in this weekend's duels with Penn and Princeton, both on the road.

NOTEBOOK: All those who watched UCLA upend top-ranked Notre Dame, 54-50, caught a glimpse of Crimson coach Frank McLaughlin on the College Basketball Report at halftime. McLaughlin, interviewed as one of Digger Phelps' former assistant coaches at Notre Dame who now heads his own coaching staff, referred to Harvard as "the greatest academic institution in the world." Crimson Stats HARVARD 76, BROWN 57' at the IAB HARVARD   FG  FT  REB  ASS  PF  TP Mannix  0-0  2-2  1  1  1  2 Coatsworth  2-7  0-0  9  1  4  4 Allen  7-12  0-3  6  1  1  14 Harris  5-9  1-3  2  2  2  11 Hooft  6-8  1-2  7  2  2  13 Mills  0-0  0-0  0  1  0  0 Taylor  1-4  3-4  1  2  2  5 Fine  6-9  3-4  6  2  7  15 Clarke  2-3  0-0  1  3  0  4 Fleming  3-6  0-0  2  4  0  6 Mundy  0-1  2-2  1  0  0  2 Trumball  0-0  0-0  0  0  0  0 Totals  32-59  12-20  36  19  19  76 FG%--54; FT%--60; Team rebounds--4; Turnovers--20

Crimson Stats HARVARD 76' BROWN 57' at the IAB BROWN   FG  FT  REB  PF  ASS  TP Lambert  0-6  2-2  3  4  2  2 Friedman  0-5  0-0  2  2  1  0 Robinson  1-6  2-3  0  3  0  4 Moss  5-8  4-4  5  2  0  14 Stanley  2-4  5-6  3  5  1  9 Mack  7-17  0-0  1  0  1  14 Ziko  2-6  2-2  4  3  0  6 Cameron  0-0  0-0  1  0  0  0 Dolan  3-6  0-0  5  2  1  6 Kroll  1-4  0-0  1  1  1  2 Totals  21-62  15-17  25  22  9  57 FG%--34; FT%--88; Team rebounds--6; Turnovers--19

Crimson Stats SCORE BY PERIODS Harvard  33  43--76 Brown  30  27--57 Attendance 1200