The verdict took a while in coming, but it didn't take Paul Newman to prove that the Judges of Brandeis were guilty as charged.

Guilty, that is, of being a Division III team with a 2-15 record and all the haplessness that implies.

So it was only justice when the Division I Crimson (now 10-10 overall, 2-6 in the Ivies) sentenced the Judges to a 97-68 penitent before 100 witnesses last night at Briggs Athletic Center.

Crimson Co-Captain George White headed the executioners, tallying a career-high 17 points to lead the Harvard attack White scrapped for every basket inside the lane, hitting the follow-ups and getting the garbage buckets in a game characterized by untidy play.

"It's about time," White said after the game. The 6-ft, 7-in senior specializes in defense and rebounding, so he spent most of the team's first games looking for the pass whenever he got the ball.

"Don't look for 17 points from me every night," the Philadelphia native said. But he's not going to disappear altogether from the box score, either "Teams tend to slough off on me too much and that hurts the other guys."

But the other guys weren't hurting last night, as the slower, shorter Judges couldn't handle the Crimson offense Center Monroe Trout converted a two inch height advantage into 10 Harvard points and forward Ken Plutnicki sped past the Brandeis front line to nab 12 points on six of eight shooting. The cagers humbled the opposition on the boards 54-29 with Plutnicki's 13 leading the way.

Sophomore guard Bob Ferry turned in his usual double figure performance this time netting 14 points and sometimes starter freshman Greg Wildes came off the bench with 11.

But this was the game for the Crimson reserves. Coach Frank McLaughlin used all 13 of his players for at least five minutes, and some of the back ups displayed their readiness for game time Junior John Harnice didn't waste a second swishing four buckets and hauling in seven rebounds in just seven minutes Guards Kyle Standley and Pat Smith also acquitted themselves well on the court.

Long before the substitutes began to contribute. Brandeis actually threatened to make a game of it. When Stephen Wood layed it in with 12 28 to go in the first half, the Judges held a 20 17 edge. The Crimson then reeled off 10 straight points in the next three minutes to take command A 17 4 Harvard rally at the close of the half scaled the victory.

McLaughlin said the blowout helped his squad prepare for weekend clashes with Columbia and Cornell. "We're going in with the right frame of mind," he said. "We've gotta get those."

THE NOTEBOOK Brandeis probably had more athletic talent on the bench than on the court Coach Bob Brannum once played for the Boston Celtics and his assistant Kevin O Brien played baseball in the New York Yankee organization O'Brien's father Fran coaches MIT. Until last night, a 25-point trouncing of MIT was Harvard's largest victory margin of the year.

Brandeis(68)

Cellucci 5 11 1-1 11 Pross 3-6 0-1 6 Fleming 3-9 5 5 11 Patten 9 16 1 2 19 Wood 4 16 2 2 10 Markiey 6 2 5 0 0 4 Tobin 2 6 0 0 4 Baron 0 1 0 1 0 Pearlstein 1 4 0 0 2 Hicks 0 1 0 2 0 Chipkin 0 0 1 2 1 Totals 29 75 10 16 68

Harvard(97)

Harvard 4 6 1 2 9 Ferry 7 13 0 1 14 Trout 5 8 0 0 10 Plutnicki 6 8 0 0 12 White 4 12 9 14 17 Bernard 3 4 0 1 7 Wildes 4 6 3 3 11 Smith 0 0 0 0 0 Boyle 2 4 0 1 4 standley 2 4 1 2 5 Mitchell 0 0 1 2 1 Faney 0 2 0 0 0 Harnice 4 9 0 0 8 Totals 41 76 15 26 97

Halltime--Harvard 48 32

Fouled out - Fleming Total foule-Brandeis 22 Harvard 18 Technical-Hicks Rebounds-Harvard 54 (Plutnicki 13) Brandeis 29 (Patten 9) Assists--Harvard 19 (Dixon 5) Brandeis 7 (Wood 3) A-100