VARSITY BASKETBALL

Eight games in nine days, each on a strange court, and each separated by miles of tiresome railroading, proved too strenuous for the varsity basketball team on its holiday trip, and it returned to Hanover with six defeats, only winning from C. C. N. Y., and Gettysburg.

The trip opened January 1; with the same fight that the quintet had shown against Springfield Y. M. C. A. College the month before in its opening game, and C. C. N. Y., conqueror of Yale, went down in a close game by the score of 21-20.

The Crescent Athletic Club handed Dartmouth the small end of a 39-20 score the following night jin a game marked by the clever work of the Halstead brothers, formerly of Cornell, and McTigue, a Princeton graduate. Sisson starred for Dartmouth, securing over half of the Green's points.

January 3, Lafayette overwhelmed the visitors 24-14, 10 of Dartmouth's 14 points resulting from Sisson's free tries. The team was closely guarded throughout and it was only on rare occasions that the ball shot up toward the opponent's basket.

Penn State won a brilliantly played game from the Green the following night by the score 44-22. The teams were very evenly matched in their general floor work, but the individual offensive playing of Captain Walton and Blakeslee accounted for the difference in scores.

Showing a great improvement in team work and basket shooting, the Green defeated Gettysburg January 5, 30-25, but the following night it lost its first league game of the season, to Pennsylvania, 18-14. Although blanked in the first period by the Red and Blue men who at the same time piled up ten points, the Green forwards took a brace in the second half and were several times within a basket of the Pennsylvania total, but were unable to overhaul the lead.

After resting over Sunday, the team met Wesleyan the night of January 8, and lost 24-18. Here Aishton and Captain Sisson featured for the Green, the former caging three field baskets and the latter scoring eight fouls from nine tries.

The following night the second league game of the season, with Yale, ended in a 33-24 defeat for Dartmouth. The Green started the game with determined vigor which put them in the lead, the first half ending in the visitor's favor, 17-15. Soon after the opening of the second, an injury to Steenrod's heel slowed him up considerably and Aishton amassed the four fouls necessary to remove him from the game. Hut chins was sent in, sustained a broken nose, and was forced to retire. The Yale quintet from then on gradually drew awav from Captain Sisson's men and the game ended with a victory for the Blue.

The following Saturday the first home league match went to Princeton 37-22. Princeton's effective team play, built around Captain Haas, an unusually speedy guard, coupled with accurate short distance shots made the final outcome never in doubt. Princeton without doubt "was represented by one of the best balanced machines that has visited Alumni Gymnasium for some time.

Dartmouth won its first home league game in three years January 15, when Cornell went down 34-31. The Green players showed a complete reversal of form, and, with the exception of the last minute of play, kept the Ithacans out of striking distance throughout the contest. The opening whistle brought a flash of speed from the Green which has seldom been seen before in Hanover. Superior team work and shooting was the key of the varsity's success, with Rau and Mudgett starring throughout.

The Green now stands second from the bottom of the intercollegiate league, but if it continues to show the marked improvement exhibited against Cornell, it should climb up at least two more places and possibly three. Although not showing as much improvement as most of his players, Captain Sisson has maintained his early season standard at guard. Mudgett has shown fight throughout and has steadily gained in shooting accuracy. Rau and Aishton as forwards have materially strengthened the offensive, and Hutchins has proved a valuable substitute in this department. Probably Hutchinson, taking Steenrod's place at center, has improved as much as any of the squad, and, with a little more practice against other varsities, should prove a valuable find.