Page 5 The Carolina Journal February 19, 1969 you gram their THE I also ite-in riion. •ing’s : will re to SGA ident jrt is ^ules iated ;e an 'ho’ll 49ers Win DIAC Tournament Basinger Named MVP Anthony, Turpin Excel Season Ends on Sweet Note With 49ers on Top For those who have somehow avoided being enlightened as to the adventure of the UNC-C basketball team this past weekend, the 49ers ventured into Greensboro and returned with the ultimate - the Dixie Conference tournament championship. Below, in capsule form, are the details of the three victorious games that led to this prize. In the opening round on Thursday night, UNC-C met with UNC-G, a team that the 49ers had defeated twice during the regular season. The third confrontation proved no differently as UNC-C raced to a 79-61 victory behind a big second half splurge. Pete Donahue evolved as the chief architect of this win as he scored 15 of his 19 points in the Champions. Let that most splendid word endlessly flow from the mouths of all the UNC-C students and reverberate among the confines of this campus. Even the very sound and image of it suggests authority, dominance and supremacy. The one intrinsic fact of the whole matter is this: The 49er cagers are number one, king of the hill, chairmen of the board. These appellations were earned this past weekend in Greensboro as UNC-C swept to three victories and the Dixie Conference tournament championship. In so doing, the 49ers erased the disappointment that accompanied their regular season tie for second and definitively proved their superiority. Nevertheless, no team is beyond evaluation. The time seems appropriate to judge the successes and disappointments of this championship squad. Pluses: - A balanced scoring attack the entire season. All five members of the starting five averaged in double figures with each one capable of breaking the game open. - The development of a sturdy, resistant defense that allayed the fears that many held before the season concerning this facet of the 49er game. - The flourishing of Jim Turpin and Bob Lemmond in the second half of the season. After disappointing early in the campaign, Turpin steadied his shooting eye to finish with a 52 per cent average and Lemmond rebounded and played defense with the aggressiveness that lay dormant in him for so long. - Of course, the tremendous play of Ben Basinger and Pete Donahue. Basinger led the team in scoring and rebounding and proved to be the 49ers most potent force in the tournament. Donahue played consistently excellent defense in addition to wielding a hot offensive hand with his dazzling array of moves. - The highly underrated play of Jerry Anthony. Easily recognized as the team leader, Anthony often exerted a steadying influence upon the team while on the floor that proved invaluable in most of the team’s victories. His abundant contributions to the team were recognized, fortunately, with his selection to the all-tournament team. - The swift progress of two freshmen, Norris Dae and Jerry Franks. The duo displayed poise and potential in coming off the bench to gain valuable experience. Minuses: - Poor foul shooting which cost the 49ers a few games this season. - Very erratic ball handling. Unquestionably, there were games lost as a result of numerous turnovers in key situations during games. - Inability to hold leads. This ultimately reverts back to the ball handling miscues. ^ - The loss through graduation of Jerry Anthony and Bob Lemmond. They will be sorely missed next season. Of course, praise must be heaped in the direction of the 49er mentors, head coach Harvey Murphy and assistant coach Larry Bostian. These two combined their coaching talents to become chief executioners of the losers complex that had hounded UNC-C for all too long. APO and Sophomores Share Intramural Basketball Lead After two full weeks of play, the APO “Lovers” and the Sophomores are on top of the intramural standings. In the first week of play, the Sophomores defeated the Freshmen and APO was victorious over the Nads. In the season’s tipoff game, the Sophomores came out on the long end of a 53-33 score. Due to numerous turnovers by the Freshmen and some hot shooting by the Sophomores’ Doug Robertson and Phil Rimer, the upperclassmen were able to build an early lead and were never headed. Leading all scorers was Robertson, who had 18 points, closely followed by Rimer with 15. Top scorer for the Freshmen was Skip Bennet who had 10 points. In the second game of the week APO “Lovers” defeated the Nads 52-37. APO built an early lead and enjoyed a seven point margin at halftime due primarily to the offensive punch of APO’s Jerry Overcash and Mike Wade. In the second half Dick Latty joined Overcash and Wade in an offensive barrage that stretched the lead to as much as 20 points. The sticky zone defense thrown up by APO on most occasions limited the Nads to one shot per possesion and held high scoring Devan Brown to 14 points. Jerry Overcash took game honors with 15 points, followed’ by Brown’s 14. The second week of play saw the Sophomores demolish the Engineers 65-24, and APO defeat the Freshmen 43-34. The Sophomore - Engineer game was no contest from the beginning. The Sophomores took control from the tap and rode balanced scoring to a 21 point halftime lead. The tempo of the second half remained unchanged and the Sophomores stretched the lead to the final 39 point margin. Game honors went to Donald Morgan, who had 17 points. Teammate John Robertson had 13. In last week’s final game, APO defeated the Freshmen 43-34. The “Lovers” took a seven point lead and were able to rely on a balanced scoring attack to maintain the margin. Early in the second half the Freshmen pulled to within three points but the rally fell short as APO began to pull ahead in the final ten minutes and establish the final nine point margin. For the second week in a tow, Jerry Overcash was the leading point man for APO. He had 14 points. High man for the Freshmen was Jerry Springs, who also had 14. The leading scorer in the league, based onfigures from two games, is Doug Robertson of the Sophomores. He is averaging 15.5 points per game. APO’s Jerry Overcash, averaging 14.5, is a close second. (conti)uwd on page 7) I rebel - therefore we exist. second half. Ben Basinger, setting the standard he was to follow in the ensuing two games, threw in 20 points to share game high honors with UNC-G’s Bruce Shaw. Friday night UNC-C discovered themselves encountering another hometown team, Greensboro College, a team that handed the 49ers a loss in Greensboro but subsequently were stampeded by UNC-C’s greatest offensive display of the season, 113-85. After a rather lackluster first half featuring a tight defensive battle, Donahue once again engineered a second half 49er explosion, collecting all of his 12 points in the period. All five starters scored in double figures in this contest with Jim Turpin garnering 8 out of his 10 points in the second half. But coming to the forefront again as the 49ers dominant force was Basinger, pacing the team with 17 points and 12 rebounds. With the championship on the line Saturday night, UNC-C met St. Andrews. The two teams had split the regular season games, the 49ers winning the first one at home after falling behind by 14 points and St. Andrews claiming the second meeting in convincing style. In the first half, the 49ers opened up as much as a 13 point lead and led 26-13 with eight minutes left. But St. Andrews chipped away at the lead behind Gary Linn to draw to within four at halftime, 33-29. UNC-C increased its halftime margin to 37-29 after only a minute of the second half but was unable to hold on to the lead. St. Andrews stormed back to go altead with 8:30 left in the half, 61- 59. But the games top scorer with 32 points and eventually recognized as the “Most Valuable Player” in the tournament, Ben Basinger put in a jumper with 7:30 left to make the score read 62- 61 and give the 49ers the lead that they carried to the conference championship. Individually, of course, Basinger played brilliant Tournament basketball. The 6-6 forward totaled 69 points for a 23 point game average and was devastating on the boards. Jerry Anthony, a classy guard finishing out a fine career at UNC-C, joined Basinger on the all-tournament squad with 34 points and invaluable ball handling and team leadership. Junior guard Jim Turpin contributed 37 important points with the aid of his deadly shooting eye. Junior forward Pete Donahue amassed 36 points and led the 49ers to their first two tournament victories. For 6-7 senior center Bob Lemmond it was the same script. No headlines but simply the respect of his fellow players and those close to the team who appreciated the increasingly effective job that he performed this season with every game. Winning Stats Now that UNC-C has won the DIAC title, a brief glance at the season’s statistics seems in order. The 49er’s won 9 of 19 with a game average of 73.3 points. And at that it was close: the opposing teams averaged 72.9 points against the 49er defense. The 49er’s averaged 45.1 percent of field goals and 44.2 of free throws attempted. Jerry Anthony averaged 10.8 a game during the season. Bob Lemmond 9.9, Pete Donahue 12.1, Jim Turpin 11.5, and Ben Basinger 15.4. Individual one-game high marks for the season went to Pete Donahue with the most field goals and points in a game (16 and 33 against Greensboro), Jerry Anthony with the most free throws (13 against UNC-G) and Bob Lemmond with the most rebounds (16 against N.C. Wesleyan). Ben Basinger led rebounding with an average of 9.4 during the season, followed by Bob Lemmond’s 8.4 and Jerry Anthony’s 7.3. y>ur (acuity advisor asls you for advice? Think it over, over coffee. TheThink Drink. ForyeufOwriThinkDfinkMug.s#nd75C*nd>OofO«fnei'tda3dresslo: ThiokO»i''kMug.Oept.N.P.O Bo»5S9.N«wYork,N Y, 10046. Th^lntf'naton*! CoMee

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