The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 13, 1971, Page Page 8, Image 8
USC(
By DOUG WILLIAMS
Sperfs Editor
N FRANCSCO, Calif. - USC
mrame a three point halftime
icit to defeat California 67-59,
for the championship of the Cable
Car Classic here Saturday night.
The Gamecocks reached the
final game by dropping Santa
Clara, 77-66, behind the play of
Danny Traylor, Tom Riker and
Kevin Joyce. Riker led all scorers
in t he opener with 26 points and 14
rebounds, Joyce canned 19 points
and Traylor grabbed 13 stray
shots, scoring nine points.
Joyce and Traylor joined players
from each of the other three teams
on the all-tournament team, and
Joyce captured the Hank Lusetti
trophy as the touranment's most
valuable player.
Carolina had to use some clutch
foul shooting on successive one and
one situations to claim the opening
win. Leading 63-60 with just two
minutes remaining, Joyce hit three
straight one and ones, then Riker
and Rick Mousa each converted
another opportunity to virtually ice
the game.
Against California, who ad
vanced through a 64-63 win over
San Francisco, it was an entirely
different story. Trailing most of
the first half, once by as many as
seven points, the Gamecocks
pulled within three at the half, 31
28.
But in the opening 3:15 of the
second stanza, Carolina outscored
the Golden Bears 8-2 to take a lead
which was threatened, but never
overcome. Behind Traylor, USC
ran to a 40-37 lead, then looked to
sophomore Brian Winters six
straight points to put the game
away.
Facing a bad first half in which
t hey were cold from the field and
unable to effectively control the
offensive boards, USC.was plagued
by a case of the turnovete that hurt
the Gamecocks throughout the
tourney. In the opener, CArolina
had 35 turnovers to Santa Clara's
21.
USC lost their firsf half lead with
8:19 left when the Bears' Ted
Rudow hit a jump shot from the
line to push California ahead 19-17.
A minute later, Eric Long hit
another jumper from 12 feet to give
the Bears a four point margin.
Carolina countered with a bucket
by Winters, but California came
right back with a pair of free
throws and Bill Deuw's layup.
Joyce sunk an eight foot baseline
jumper, then Ansley Truitt tipped
in a stray shot to give the Golden
Bears a 27-21 lead with 4:30
remaining.
The Gamecocks cut the lead to
27-24 until Truitt and Deuw hit
consecutive baskets, increasing
California's lead to 31-24 with 2:23
left in the opening period. Joyce
and Traylor added two-pointers in
the waning minutes to narrow the
gap to 31-28.
Traylor led the second half
comeback when Truitt ran into foul
problems, canning ten points and
eight rebounds during the rough
first half. The seven-foot giant
paced Carolina's scoring at tack by
throwing in 23 points, as Joyce
followed with 14.
Assistant coach Donnie Walsh
was obviously pleased with the
twin victories, as well as the
tournament championshiP. "When
you go 30 miles oh the road then
pture
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win against three California
teams, you have to be pleased with
the showing," Walsh said. "Sure,
we made some mistakes, but look
at our scoring. It was pretty
equal."
Walsh also commented on the
question of officials' interpretation
and the physical aspects of the
tournament. "The first game was
very physical, but the second was
just like a normal basketball
game. It wasn't dirty, just hard
basketball," he continued. "Of
course, it all depends on how the
officials call the game., ,They
weren't calling things like holding
or grabbing.
"It's really hard to say who the
best team was out of the three
California teams. Since California
emembei
~e rani thent in lot of college
papers last year. Their purpose
answer some of the critical
on~s studefs were askinig about
ayO you saw them. A lot of
ots did.And a lot wrote
bout them. many cases the
iggered additional questions,
lons so provocative
we've decided to expand our
unications with college
fte.
'e're doing it in several ways.
already started to have
rences of student opinion
rs and GE people at our various
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nrney
beat Houston, with all the talent
Houston has, they have to be good.
But San Francisco is also pretty
tough, and Santa Clara is so
physical, they are a tough team to
beat anywhere.
"We were well treated out on the
coast, much better than other
places at other times. We had 400
of our fans out there. The home
town people cheered for their
teams, our fans cheered for us. It
wasn't a case of everyone cheering
against us.
"I think this is an excellent start
on our national schedule," Walsh
concluded. "The Cable Car is a
well known tournament, and it is
definitely good to be in it. After all,
we are the first team to bring the
trophy back to the East."
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