BASKETBALL

Meanwhile, in Alumni Gym, Dartmouth's basketball season has been like a roller coaster ride.

Things went up as Boston College fell in overtime. Then the Indians fell victim to the first of a series of red-hot shooting teams as Springfield hit 62 per cent from the floor and stunned Blaney's squad, 92-74.

It was a night to forget and Dartmouth did. Three days later at Cambridge, Bill Raynor hit a perfect 15 at the foul line, had 35 points in all, and Dartmouth belted Harvard for the second time this season, 94-86.

Next St. John's came to Hanover and it was back to the down side. The Redmen romped 100-66. The Indians were flat—St. John's shot 58 per cent and grabbed 52 rebounds to Dartmouth's 32.

It looked like more misery as Princeton and Penn came in for an early February weekend. But the Indians set the stage for the hockey win over Cornell by dumping Princeton, 81-79, as Raynor scored 23 points including the last seven of the game for Dartmouth. It was a night of heroes as Jim Masker scored 25 around the pivot, James Brown added 15 including the go-ahead points, and Captain Gary Dicovitsky put a defensive stranglehold on Brian Taylor, the high-scoring Princeton guard.

An 86-66 loss to Perm (the nation's fifth-ranked team) wasn't un respectable. It evened the record at 8-8.

The trek to Brown and Yale the next weekend was like a bad dream. At Providence against a much-improved Brown team, the Indians fell behind by 17 at the half, came back to get the lead and then couldn't hang on as Brown took a 94-88 win. It was another hot-shot night—the Bruins hit 67 per cent from the floor.

Yale, flat against Harvard the night before, came to life against the Green, 101-91, shooting 53 per cent.

At Holy Cross three days after, the Indians played without Paul Erland (the all-time scoring leader who was suspended by Blaney for missing the team bus departure from Yale).

Erland, who had been lackluster during the previous four games, was replaced by junior Robin Derry who scored 16 points and shared in a gratifying team effort that was answered by an 84-83 Holy Cross win.

"What can you say to a group of men that worked so hard," said Blaney.

"They really gave everything." But Holy Cross also shot 57 per cent and while Dartmouth twice came back from 9- and 11-point deficits, it was another chapter in the perplexing tale of this season.

Defense has been a concern in the February effort. The Indians are allowing over 89 points per game (they are scoring nearly 83 which is by far a Dartmouth record) and the scoring balance that has developed around Raynor, Brown, Erland, and Masker is being overshadowed by the consistent ability of the opposition to put together a "best" game against the Green.

The schedule still prompts thoughts of a winning season but it won't be as big a winner as it looked to be.