Basketball

Sweeping through the New England College Basketball Tourney at Storrs, Conn., on Dec. 28-30 by defeating the University of Massachusetts, Middlebury and the University of Connecticut, Dartmouth established itself as one of the few undefeated college basketball teams in the nation. They continued this pace by defeating St. Anselms in Hanover on January 5 to make it eight straight. Then came the disastrous weekend of Jan. 8 when the Indians, on a three-day trip, lost to both Cornell and Princeton. Returning to Hanover, the Big Green played league-leading Pennsylvania on January 14 and defeated the Quakers by two points to regain much of their prestige. With ten of the remaining 14 contests to be played against Ivy League foes, Dartmouth still is very much in contention for the Ivy championship.

Veteran coach "Doggie" Julian still feels, however, that his club is a year away. "With four sophomores in the starting lineup," says Julian, "we're going to lose some more games. We're still a green club and I don't think we can do it this year, but we do have an outside chance."

The Big Green's chances took somewhat of a tumble following the New England Tournament when first string center Dick Fairley was lost to the team. Fairley, a veteran, had been averaging nearly 8 points per game from the all-important pivot spot and his loss meant some replacement problems for Julian. Sophomore Jim Francis, a towering 6' 8" center, moved into Fairley's starting post and Tom Donahoe, regular left forward, has been spelling Francis at center during the recent games.

It was Fairley who brought Dartmouth victory in the New England tourney finals against undefeated Connecticut. With only three seconds of the game remaining, the Indians were trailing by one point. Dartmouth moved down court against a pressing Connecticut defense and then Fairley let fly from forty feet out. The ball arched to the backboard and angled down into the basket just as the buzzer sounded to put the Big Green ahead 66-65 and send some 4,000 fans reeling home.

Dartmouth pulled another Frank Merriwell finish in the Hanover game against highly rated Pennsylvania. With just about four minutes remaining in this important Ivy contest, the Big Green tied the score at 52-all on a foul shot by Captain Glenn Wilson. Then, while 2,400 fans in the Alumni Gymnasium held their breath, the Indians "froze" the ball for nearly four minutes. With ten seconds left to play Coach Julian called time out and set up the play with his team. A hush settled over the capacity crowd as Dartmouth took the floor and moved the ball into Pennsylvania territory. The seconds ran out - six, five, four - then Wilson flipped to reserve guard Larry Freier in the right hand corner. Freier leaped and let the ball go just as the buzzer sounded. The ball hit the rim of the basket, hung there and then dropped through to give Dartmouth a 54-52 win.

The "hero" billing for Larry Freier was deserved. The 6-foot junior from Brooklyn, N. Y., has been spelling both Captain Glenn Wilson and sophomore Gene Booth at guard and doing an outstanding job. Freier's play in the New England tourney was, according to Julian, one of the major factors in Dartmouth's success. Larry is averaging almost 8 points per game in his reserve role and doing an outstanding job on defense and in setting up plays.

But the statistics show that Dartmouth's strength lies in a well-balanced first team and- a strong bench. Sophomore forward Ron Judson and Captain Glenn Wilson both are hitting at a 13-points-per-game clip, while center Jim Francis is averaging 12 points in each contest. Sophomore forward Tom Donahoe has a nine-point average and Freier eight, while guard Gene Booth and veteran forward Gene Givens are averaging nearly five.

Center Jim Francis leads in rebounds (11.4 per-game) followed by Tom Donahoe (8.2) and Ron Judson (7.9). In the foul shooting department guard Larry Freier has a 75% average, Tom Donahoe 72% and Captain Glenn Wilson 66%. Dartmouth's team shooting average to date is 36.4%, the free throw average 61.7% and the Indians have averaged 71 points per game in eleven contests.

WINNING BASKET: An upset of Pennsylvania was clinched on the Hanover court whenthis last-second shot was flipped in by Guard Larry Freier who is out of camera range inthe left-hand corner.

TOP FORM: Jim Venman, who won the dive,shown performing in the Princeton meet.