HANOVER, N.H.--For most of the men's basketball Ivy-opener here Saturday night, Harvard and Dartmouth struggled to connect on even a third of their shots from the field.

But during a crucial six-minute stretch late in the second half, the Big Green sank eight straight shots.

And that made all the difference.

Led by five straight jumpers by forward John Mackay, the hosts pulled away with a 60-52 victory over the Crimson (3-7 overall) in front of 1105 fans at Alumni Gym. The loss left Harvard winless away from home (0-4) and in the Ivy League (0-1) this season, and dropped the cagers' winter break record to 1-2.

Harvard stung Lafayette, 68-58, last Thursday, but lost to St. Michael's by six points December 19.

The Dartmouth game marked a homecoming for Harvard Coach Pete Roby, a 1979 graduate of Dartmouth and co-captain of the 1978-'79 Green basketball squad. Roby was presented with an inscribed print before the game.

Roby swore allegience to Cambridge ("I've been at Harvard for almost four years now and I've become attached to Cambridge."), but the Crimson's shooting must have made Roby wish he could return to the Big Green bench. Harvard hit only 18 of 56 floor shots for a 32.1 percent success mark. Meanwhile Dartmouth, led by red-hot Mackay, finished the game at 43 percent from the field.

"They need to shoot well in order to be successful," Roby said. "Their shooting is their strength, and we managed to take that away from them for about 35 minutes."

Harvard put together a solid first half and after Kyle Dodson hit layins off the offensive boards on consecutive possessions to bring the score to 10-8, the Crimson held onto the lead until halftime.

Together, the teams were 19-for-62 in the first half, a dismal shooting effort that allowed Harvard to collect 28 rebounds in the half--only five fewer than the Crimson had been averaging per game.

Balls were clanging off the backboard at such an alarming rate that starting 5-ft., 10-in. point guard Pat Smith. who had 11 rebounds in Harvard's first nine games, pulled down eight in 34 minutes of play.

The game stood at. 38-all with eight minutes remaining when Dartmouth's shooting touch suddenly turned to gold. Guard Joe Kilroy started the barrage with a 14-footer, and then Mr. Mackay went to work.

First, the sophomore hit a long range bomb, and after a pair of free throws by Crimson center Bill Mohler, Mackay hit another to put Dartmouth on top to stay. A lay-in after a steal and two more bombs finished the virtuoso performance--and finished the Crimson's chances as well.

Freshman Neil Phillips led Harvard with 10 points, and his four-for-10 shooting was about as good as any Cantab could muster.

The loss did not bode well for the Crimson's immediate future. "If you're asking whether any Ivy team is worse than Dartmouth, the answer would have to be no," Roby admitted. "But there's not that much difference in talent that if you don't play well you're going to get beat, and that's up and down the league."