Basketball
The Big Green quintet continues to live up to its pre-season promise by consistently downing Ivy League foes and playing on even terms or better with the powers in the Eastern independent ranks. Coach Alvin "Doggie" Julian's fast-break-ing five have blown hot and cold at times, and the close ones have become a common (and delightful for the spectator) occurrence, with the Indians taking their share.
Injuries to Dan Berry and George Ramming hurt the Big Green in the rebound department, but Berry soon returned to action. Ramming, who has been hampered by injuries in his three years at Dartmouth, was out of action for several games when his strength off the boards would have made a difference, but the verdict was that he would be in action again as the season moved to a close.
All five Indian starters were scoring in the double figures consistently enough to maintain averages at that level. Gary Vandeweghe leads the pack with a 15.9 average, with 279 total points. Walt Sosnowski, Ramming and Captain Chuck Kaufman are averaging over 12 points, while forward Bryant Barnes is just under it at 11.5.
Springfield College was the first of three non-league foes for the Big Green while the rest of the Ivies were taking examinations under the two-semester system. Springfield was also the easiest of the three as Dartmouth, paced by Ramming's 17 points, won, 75-58. Boston University and Pittsburgh provided tougher opposition with Pittsburgh giving the Big Green its first home defeat in fourteen Alumni Gym contests.
The Boston University game, played in the Hub City, was a double overtime thriller won by the Green, 90-83. Captain Kaufman was the big man on the court in the second overtime period as he personally scored six points to assure the Dartmouth victory.
Dartmouth held a 16-point lead against the visiting Pitt team at one point in the first half, but the Panthers came back in the second half to score consistently and tie the game with eight minutes remaining. The lead changed hands several times in the remaining minutes, but a combination of shooting accuracy and rebounding by Pitt held off the last minute Dartmouth drive, 67-62.
Dartmouth returned to Ivy competition by downing Cornell, 83-79, as die Green went wild in the first half with a 50-point spree. The Indian five appeared a different team in the second half as Cornell made up much of the deficit, but the first half bulge was too much. Sosnowski scored 27 for Dartmouth. In the first-half splurge, the Indians hit for a remarkable 59.5 percent, 22 of 37 shots from the floor.
Holy Cross, another non-league foe, gave the Hanover fans another thrilling finish by edging the Big Green, 73-71, with a last-second basket. With three seconds left in the game, Dartmouth ahead by one point, Crusader substitute Spence Thompson grabbed his teammate's stray foul shot attempt and while falling to the floor threw in the winning basket. Vandeweghe led the Dartmouth scorers with 22 points.
A fired-up Brown team, whose previous league performance had been less than brilliant, added to the dismay of local observers by taking a double overtime 84-82 upset win. The Bruins started fast and built up a lead of 12 points in the second half before Sosnowski, Berry and Vandeweghe combined forces to tie the game. The lead shifted through the remainder of the regulation time and through two overtimes until Bruin forward Dave Reed jolted the Indians with the winning basket; three seconds were on the clock. Vandeweghe dropped in 27 for Dartmouth.
The next night the Indians made it clear to a visiting Yale quintet that upsets were not to be tolerated by jumping to a 45-21 halftime lead by shooting at a percentage of .633. Bryant Barnes, who led the Indians with 20, and his teammates continued to press the Elis through the second half and Dartmouth emerged with another Ivy scalp, 79-57.
