Playing in obscurity, anonymity and before a crowd of 29 spectators last night at Briggs Cage, the Harvard junior varsity men's basketball team is in the process of closing out its home schedule against Brown.

"Concentrate," Coach Tom Bazzell is yelling at his players during a time out. "You've got to concentrate. You've got wide open shots and you're blowing them. Come on, let's go."

The score is 44-37, Brown.

The players head back out on the court, determined to "concentrate."

It works for a while. The Crimson pulls to within three points, but Brown busts the Harvard press wide open. On offense for the Crimson, getting a pass into the paint gets harder than getting seconds at the Union.

"You guys aren't looking inside," Bazzell is shouting during another time out. "Steve's wide open in the middle. If he's open, give it to him. No hesitation."

But after two minutes of non-stop hustling on defense, an improved offense and a Dave LaPointe three-pointer in the final seconds of the game, Harvard comes up short and loses to the Bruins, 77-74.

If you've ever seen the varsity players after a big loss, you would see angry men with scowls on their faces and lips shut tight.

The scene is different here. The players are casual, smiling and talkative. Why not? They all played, and they all played hard. Most importantly, they had fun.

"We want to win for pride's sake, but we're all having fun," freshman Steve Brown says. "It's not a problem that we're not as serious as the varsity. We're not making careers out of it."

"Everyone's out there because they want to be," Captain Marc Pino says. "We're just playing for fun. I'd probably be out playing pick-up some-where anyway, so I might as well play organized ball."

Don't let their casual attitude mislead you. Watching this team play is like watching the last few seconds of a Lakers-Celtics game. No one quits.

"Their greatest strength is heart," Bazzell says. "These kids do not die. That's what I enjoy most about this team."

Varsity Hopes

Pino, a second-year j.v. player and the team's spark plug, would like to play for the varsity squad, but realizes that a move from j.v. to varsity is not an everyday occurrence.