BASKETBALL POSSIBILITIES
Opening the season December 29 by defeating the Manhattan College quintet 29-19, the basketball team to date has better prospects than any previous Green team has shown for several years. The Manhattan game was never in doubt after the first rush in which the Hanover contingent scored ten points. Williams and Eskeline as an offensive combination did excellent work and between them scored all but four of Dartmouth's 29 points. The following night Dartmouth lost to the strong Crescent A. C. five 27-23 in a closely contested game at the Second Signal Corps Armory in Brooklyn. The lead changed hands at many points in the game and it was not until the last few minutes of play that the opponents drew ahead. Rector and Sisson carried off the honors in shooting for the Green with three field goals each to their credit and Williams was successful in nine of the free tries for goal.
Handicapped by the absence of Calder, its star player, the Commonwealth A. C. team of South Orange, N. J., lost to Dartmouth December 31 by the score of 38-27. In the first half the score stood 11 all with a minute left to play when the varsity uncovered a brilliant offense and scored three goals before the whistle blew. This lead was never threatened until the end of the game.
With the ultimate result in doubt until the last minute of play, Dartmouth gained a 24-19 victory over C. C. N. Y. January 1 before a large crowd at the New York team's court. At all stages of the first half the score was close and the period ended in a tie. The New York five forged ahead at the beginning of the second half and it was only by means of a delayed spurt by the Green in the last three minutes of play that the victory was made possible. The varsity scored another victory January 3, downing the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute 29-17. The institute players led at the end of the first half by two points, but in the second period the Green opened up and by careful guarding and excellent teamwork forged ahead of the Brooklyn team and maintained their lead.
St. John's College was defeated the following night by the close score of 24-21. The outcome was doubtful throughout the game and only in the last minute of play was the Green able to take the lead and keep its opponents from scoring. On January 5 the Green met its second defeat at the hands of the Seton Hall College five by a score of 26-24, and the following night succumbed again to the Crescent A. C. quintet 43-33 in a fast and spectacular game. Dartmouth led at the end of the first half but the bewildering series of passes and the unerring basket shooting of the Halstead brothers, ex-Cornell stars, and Calder, turned the tables in the second half.
The last game in New York Friday night was an easy victory for the Green over Columbia in a game featured by the stellar work of Williams, who scored 18 of the varsity's 30 points and was instrumental in keeping their adversaries to 16 points.
In the last game of the holiday trip against Amherst, the Green nosed out a 32-27 victory in spite of an 18-11 handicap at the close of the first half. The team consisted largely of substitutes, and the inexperienced lineup nearly proved disastrous, for the Purple showed unexpected strength, forcing Coach Loudon to send in Rector, Williams and Eskeline in the second half. The first home game was with Columbia January 15, and the inability of the Green to shoot resulted in a 33-20 victory for the Blue and White five. Williams was easily the star for the varsity, scoring four baskets from the field and time and again breaking up the visitors' passing and dribbling. Dwyer and Calder starred for Columbia, both showing the best of judgment in passing or shooting as the situation demanded.
The Colgate game January 20 resulted in a victory for the Green by a score of 23-18. Coach Loudon started Aishton and Martin in the lineup, reserving Rector on account of a recent illness. Several substitutes were used during the second half and the game was featured by the usual speed and accuracy of Williams both in shooting baskets and breaking up the opponents teamwork.
