BASKETBALL
The basketball team returned from its western trip smarting from four one-sided defeats. In the Milwaukee Classic, the Green was beaten by Wisconsin 94-68 and then in the consolation round by Marquette 98-69. On trip east, the Indians were trounced by Purdue 101-53 and by Pittsburgh 107-63.
In other games since our last report, Fordham topped the Green before Christmas 84-51 and Holy Cross, after the holidays, controlled the game at Worcester for a 82-58 win. The Indians opened the Ivy season by dropping an 80-76 game to Columbia in double overtime and bowing to Cornell 97-68 and Harvard 74-52. The Columbia game was the closest the Green hoopsters have come to victory since way back in early December. And if you look back at last year's results you find that the Dartmouth losing streak actually extends over eighteen games.
Coach Doggie Julian is still looking for the answer and as a result has tried a number of different combinations. Of the twelve men on the squad there doesn't seem to be five—at least not yet - that can patch up the riddled defense, put an end to the mistakes, or score consistently.
Against Columbia Coach Julian started 6-5 Mike Buckley at center, Davis Blaine and Lance Roberts at forwards, and Chris Kinum and Vic Mair in the backcourt. Kinum scored 24 points, but this was not enough. Dartmouth saw a seven point lead, 59-52, reversed by the Lions 62-59 late in the second half. The next few minutes were tension packed as Dartmouth fought back to tie 63-63 as the period ended. The Green blew another lead in the first overtime and settled for a tie, 68-68. In the second overtime, it was all Columbia as Kinum fouled out and the Lions connected on foul shots, something the Indians couldn't do. In the same game Blaine had 15 points and Buckley 13.
Through. the first ten games Blaine has the best scoring average 16.8, and Kinum and Mair are 11.9 and 11.6, while Buckley in seven games has a twelve point average. Overall Dartmouth has hit on only 36 per cent of its shots this season.
What does the future hold for Dartmouth basketball? In just five years Dartmouth has gone from a championship awards winner to a winless quintet. We have full confidence, however, in both Doggie Julian and freshman coach Tony Lupien and that Dartmouth basketball fortunes will again be on the rise. These two men have proven in the past that they are able mentors of the game of basketball. We would like to think that improvement in basketball in fact is just around the corner, maybe even next year, for this year's freshman team is one of the best in recent years. In two early games the Pea Greens beat both Vermont and New Hampshire soundly and in mid-January they did the same to the Harvard freshmen in their first Ivy test.
If this year's freshman quintet could be followed by another of the same potential, Dartmouth basketball fortunes would definitely be on the upswing. It was just ten years ago this winter that a freshman team arrived in Hanover and opened one of the greatest pages in Dartmouth basketball history - Jim Francis, Ron Judson, Gene Booth, Tom Donahue and company. Maybe the time has come again. No one is wishing any harder than Doggie Julian that the pendulum is about to swing.
