Basketball

Most experts among Eastern basketball coaches and writers picked Coach Alvin "Doggie" Julian's quintet to repeat its Ivy League championship of last year despite the loss of Rudy LaRusso's fine rebounding and shooting and the superb playmaking of Dave Gavitt. Thus far, in Ivy games against Cornell, Columbia and Harvard, the Big Green has confirmed this selection.

In the two most recent games, both against Harvard, the Indians won by 66-53 and 71-56 scores. Earlier they edged by Columbia, 84-78, and thumped Cornell, 77-59.

During the Christmas holidays, however, the Indians did not fare as well. Playing in the Holiday. Festival in Madison Square Garden, Dartmouth dropped the tournament opener to New York University, 78-68, and then lost the consolation game to St. John's by a 73-66 score. On the day after New Year's, playing at Holy Cross, Dartmouth went down to defeat, 82-77, for its third loss of the season.

All of Dartmouth's starting five are currently hitting in double figures, with forward Gary Vanderweghe leading the team with a 16-point average, followed by Captain Chuck Kaufman, a fine play-making guard, who is hitting at 14 points per game, while center George Ramming and guard Walt Sosnowski have 13-point averages, and forward Bryant Barnes is just over ten points per game.

Ramming, who is also the team's top rebounder, has definitely won the starting assignment at center over Dave Farnsworth. Forward Dan Berry and guards Bob Meyer and Bob Brower are key replacements who have seen action in almost all of the games played thus far.

It is generally admitted that the current Dartmouth team does not have quite the talent and depth of last year's fine squad. However, this year's aggregation seems faster on the court and in recent games has featured a fast-breaking type of offense, set up by Chuck Kaufman, which has worked well. With well-balanced shooting and a stout defense, the Big Green should retain its Ivy League crown, barring major accidents.

Hockey Captain Rusty Ingersoll (14) plays defense but his scoring forays were major factors in the wins over Yale and Princeton.