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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, SUNDAY, FERBUARY 28, 1965
eel.
ram Matiini
.Down
Cunningham Stars
In 71 -66 Thriller
By LARRY TARLETON , "
- DTH Sports Editor . " "
UNC's Tar Heels rose to the occasion yesterday and shocked
Duke's fifth-ranked Blue Devils for the second time this: year,
71-66 - : : . - - - ' .. .
The victory, certainly one of the greatest in Carolina history, "I
assured he Tar Heels of at least a tie for second place in the
ACC The seventh : straight win for the Tar ' Heels gave them a--10-4
conference mark and a 15-B overall record. - - : r ' :
Going into last night's" games, Maryland and NC' State stand -at
9-4 in the conference.: If a tie occurs, drawings will be held
today: to determine seeding in the tournament. Duke closed -its-7
season with an 18-4 mark and 11-3 in the conference :
In a fitting climax to ancient Woollen Gymnasium, AU-Amerl-:
can Billy Cunningham scored the last Carolina points in the-'old--gym.i-With
41 seconds: left, Qinningham: followed his own shot
and laid it in to dose out a brilliant career for himself and for
Woollen. "-' - ' . . ' .
Although he wasn't hitting well from outside, the Kid played "
one of the finest games of his three year career. He led all .
scorers with 25 points and all rebounders with; 16..: ' ' -
When he was. inside, he scored and when he moved outside, -has
passed to teammates for easy baskets: The Kid closed out .
the regular season in All-American style. : T" : : ; -
But the win was far from a one-man effort. All five men on'
the floor gave an all-out performance for Coach Dean Smith.
There was Ray Respess, also closing out his career before the
home folks, stopping Duke's high scoring Jack Marin without a
point the first 19 minutes and allowing Marin to score only two
field goals off him all day. When Ray was sitting on the bench
with foul trouble, Marin scored six points for a total of ten, far
below his 20-point average.
Then there was super sophomore Bob Lewis, who hit only one
of his first seven shots, but when the pressure was on he hit
seven of eight and-wound up with 20 points. .
Leaping Lewis also pulled down nine rebounds and took up :
the rebounding slack when Cunningham, went to the bench. the
last five minutes of the first half.
And there was John Yokley, whose tenacious defense held Bob -Verga
to 13 points, but more important whose fine ball-handling
broke Duke's pressing defense. And Tom Gauntlett., a sophomore
who played like a veteran, who had the hrd t?sk of guarding
Steve Vacendak and who did a great iob although Vacendak got
21 points, many of them came late in the game.
But then there was also, substitutes Bob Bennett, Bill -Brown
and Ray Hassell who came off the bench to perform admirably.
After Hack Tison hit a layup to start the scoring the Tar Heels ,
took a 3-2 lead on a Cunningham free throw and layup, and
never trailed again. After a Vacendak free throw tied the score,
the closest the Dookies could get was 22-21 with 7:14 left in the
first half. ; -
UNC had a 26-21 lead when Cunningham went to the bench with
three fouls with 5:28 left in the half, and held on for a 32-28 lead
at intermission.
The Tar Heels came from the dressing rooms rooms with blaz
ing shooting eyes, and quickly built up a 14-point lead at 50-36
with 13:03 remaining. At 9:01 the Tar Heels still had that 14
point margin at 58-44 but the Dookies began catching up and
UNC started playing "slow-down."
The Blue Dukes cut the lead to 62-57, but with 3:49 left, Cun
ningham sank two free tosses, and the Tar Heels capitalized
on Duke fouls to pad their margin to 71-62 when Cunningham
hit his final basket. Two Duke field goals at the end were wasted.
In that torrid second half, the Tar Heels attempted only 19
field, goals, but made good on 13 of them for a fantastic 68.4 per
centage. For the game, Carolina hit 55.1 per cent while Vic
Bubas's Blue Devils were having their second consecutive poor
shooting game and managed only 39.3 per cent.
Trailing Cunningham and Lewis in the Tar Heel scoring col
umn were Respess with 12 and Yokley with nine.
Duke placed four men in double figures. Following Vacendak.
.,. were Hack Tison with 18, Verga 13 and Marin 10.
Near the end of the game, Bubas became so desperate he used
a lineup of Vacendak, Verga, Denny Ferguson, Ron Herbster
and Stuart McKaig all under 6-1.
Blue
.Devi
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Billy The Kid Jumps Over Three Dookies For Two Points
: Photo by Jock Lanterer
Only Seven More To Go,
99
Says
jMbilant
Cmpiiiiigha:
By PETE GAMMONS
Asst. Sports "Edito r -
"Well, we closed out the place
in style, and now we have seven
more games to go."
Almost nonchalantly, as if
there had been no doubt in his
mind who was going to win,
Billy Cunningham looked back
on the game.
"I was a little disappointed in
my own shooting, but I was hot
against Virginia and I .guess it
didn't carry over. We played
well but I know we can play
better.
UNC FG FT R TP
Lewis .... 8-15 4- 5 9 20
Yokley 3- 3 3- 5 3 9
Cunningham 8-19 9-11 16 25
Gauntlett . 2-2 0-l 1 4
Respess 6- 9 0- 0 5 12
Morrison 0-01-25 1
Bennett 0-01-25 1
Brown 0-00-10 0
Hassell 0-10-01 0
Totals ..27-49 17-25 40 71
DUKE FG FT R TP
Marin 5-15 0- 2 4 10
Vacendak 7-14 7-11 9 21
Tison . 6-9.6-8 5 18
Verga 5-14 3- 5 2 13
Ferguson .. 0- 3 0- 0 2 0
Herbster ...... 0-42-31 2
Reidy 0-00-01 0
McKaig 1- 2 0- 0 2 2
Totals 24-61 18-29 26 66
t "I thought we had them right
from the gun, but I was sure
when there were only four min
utes left." ,: . "
Billy now must look forward '
to playing in the tournament.
"If we can wan the tourna
ment it will complete my col
lege career."
Duke Coach Vic Bubas was
somewhat solemn after -his
team's defeat. "You have to
pive North Carolina credit. .
They earned the victory by
jumping right out and taking
command. They got superlative
performances from Cunningham
and Lewis, and we just didn't
start playing ball until there
were 15 minutes left.
"Carolina moved well without
the ball. They knew where to be
against the press and got into
position all the time and made
the job of the player with the
ball much easier.
"The ball just wouldn't drop
for us in the first half, despite
the fact that wre had some good
shots. It just wasn't " Jack
Marin's day.
"That completes stage one of
the season. The second stage
will be in Raleigh and we'll be
ready. It ought to be a great
tournament."-
"It was a great team effort,"
said UNC Coach Dean Smith.
"Cunningham played great ball
in every way . . . Lewis was tre
mendous, especially under the
defensive boards . . . Gauntlett
and ; Yokley were great . '." ,
Bennett's performance .encour
ages me for the tournament and
for next yeat . ; . and I was so
proud of Respess.; : ; r n :
; "We switched Lewis to Fer
guson to give us better rebound
ing, and thought Verga. would
be looking for ' Gauntlett and
put Yokley "on 'him with Tom
guarding Vacendak. Respess
really put the-wraps on Marin
and I think he got only two
baskets when Ray was on him.
I figured Gauntlett's size would
hurt Vacendak under the
boards."
"Looking ahead to the tour
nament I" don't care who we
play, because anyone can win."
Despite the "team" perform
ance, Smith couldn't stop talk
ing about Cunningham, who in
his final home appearance scored
the last UNC basket in Woollen
Gym. "He killed them in so
many ways under the boards,
shooting, bringing the ball up
. . . he just does everything."
After the excitement had died
down around the dressing room
and both the players and the
autograph - seekers had 1 e f , t
there remained a very notice
able sign up on the wall:
Saturday 1. Duke
2. Second Place
- 3. Last Game in
Woollen Gym
4. Last Home
Game
5. Carolina pride