The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 22, 1973, Page Page 6, Image 6
USC t(
BY STEVE PARKER
Sports Editor
Carolina's quest for an NCAA
post-season tournament berth
ended Monday night with the
Gamecock's 81-52 thrashing of Stet
son at the Carolina Coliseum.
Whether USC is invited to tourna
ment action or not is no longer in
the hands of the Gamecocks as they
will play no more games before the
tournament committee extends
their post-season bids on the after
noon of February 28. That very
night USC will host Fordham.
And so, with the USC team now
unable to further their chances for
a bid, the question is: Will the tour
nament committee be impressed
G ar
Athi
Athletes in Action, a barnstorm
ing team of former collegiate bas
ketball players, will meet Carolina
Saturday night in a Coliseum exhibi
tion game.
The Gamecocks, now 18-5, are in
the midst of an eight-game winning
streak and are hoping to receive a
bid to the NCAA play-offs. Bids are
exp ..ted to be announced Feb. 28,
the date of USC's next regular sea
son game with Fordham.
The squad that will meet the
Gamecocks is the AIA "Eastern"
team and a second squad of barn
stormers is touring the West. Des
pite playing all games on the road,
Athletes in Action basketball teams
have won 44 per cent of their games
since first hitting the road in 1967.
AIA also fields teams in wrestling,
track, gymnastics and weightlift
ing.
This year's Eastern squad, 9-14,
has claimed wins over Bowling
Green, Ohio University and Toledo
and has one-point losses to
Marshall and East Carolina, the lat
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Victory give
UrarM
enough with Carolina to invite
them?
Carolina's creditionals are
strong. The one-sided win over the
Hatters raised the USC record to
18-5 on the season, including eight
successive victories, and extended
the Gamecock's victory string to 21
straight in the Coliseum.
The five losses that the
Gamecocks have suffered cost
them severely in the eyes of the
pollsters. Ranked high' in pre
season polls, the USC squad
dropped from sight after suffering
two losses in their first five con
tests. And despite the torrid show
ing Carolina has presented of late,
it was not until this week that they
managed to climb back into the top
necocks
etes in A
ter in overtime. AIA defeated Dav
idson Wednesday night by one
point, 94-93.
Tipoff time Saturday is 8 P.M.,
Greg Berry
...coaches
AIA
East team.
and there will be no live radio or
television. All seats will be general
admission and prices are $2 for
adults and $1 for students.
Jimmy Blacklock, a 6-1 guard who
led the University of Texas to a
Southwest Conference title and an
NCAA bid, is the Athletes in Action
leading scorer with a 15.7 average,
and four other team members are
scoring in double figures.
C e Brookins, 6-4 who
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s Gamecocks
ent dn
20 teams in the nation.
USC is currently ranked 19th by
the UPI pollsters, but the AP poll
sees fit to not place them in the pre
mier group.
Those rankings may seem fair for
a squad with five losses, but the
calibre of teams that Carolina has
lost to, might call for a reexamina
tion. All five teams which have
bested the Gamecocks have at some
point in the season been ranked in
the top-twenty, four of them are
currently still there.
Although the Stetson game was
not counted in the latest polls it
doesn't seem as if the victory will
move either the pollsters or the
tournament committee much in
either direction.
face
ction
played at Temple, is averaging 13.9;
Cavin Anderson, 6-4, of Valley City
State, is averaging 13.6; 6-10 Dave
Schneider of Wayne State 13.3; and
6-6 Bill Hull of Oral Roberts 11.4.
Schneider is the leading rebounder
with a 9.4 average.
The Gamecocks will use the
exhibition game to fill in an other
wise nine-day layoff before the next
official action, Feb. 28 against
Fordham. The Athletes in Action
game will not count in Carolina
team and individual statistics for
the season.
Carolina is led by 6-3 All-America
candidate and captain Kevin Joyce
with a 20.2 scoring average.
Freshman forward Alex English is
averaging 14.4 points per game;
seven foot senior center Danny
Traylor 12.5; 6-4 junior forward
Brian Winters 11.0; and 6-2
freshman guard Mike Dunleavy
10.4.
Traylor and English are each
averaging 10.4 rebounds per game.
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18-5 mark
ve con
One point which would seem to
be in the Gamecocks favor was the
95-94 loss of Virginia Tech to lowly
Richmond in double-overtime Mon
day. VPI, 19th in the AP poll, was
thought to be Carolina's chief rival
for a tournament invitation.
Carolina's win over Stetson was
impressive. The Hatters trailed the
entire contest after USC broke a 2-2
deadlock, were down by 40-26 at the
halfway mark and eventually fell by
a 29-point margin.
Carolina's zone defense played a
major factor in Stetson's lack of
competition, as the Hatters could
manage to convert only 31 per cent
of their field goal attempts.
Conversely, USC connected on
54 per cent, most on layups off of
Athletes
Dennis Cantrell, 6-10 centei
a rebound in game in Wichita
co-captain of the University 4
of the 12 former college play
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cludes
one of 20 assists the Gamecocks
compiled for a new Coliseum
record. Kevin Joyce broke the
Coliseum's individual assist mark
with 12 handouts to his teammates.
Five Gamecocks scored 12 or
more points, paced by Danny
Traylor's 22 markers. The seven
footer also led the squad in rebound
ingwith 12, while blocking five Hat
ter shots.
All 12 of the Gamecocks saw
action versus the Hatters.
The victory was a quite impres
sive way for the Carolina team to
finish their effort for the post
season berths, now all that remains
is for the right people to take notice.
in Action
r for Athletes in Action, grabs
earlier in the season. Cantrell,
)f Miami 1971-72 team, is one
ers on AIA.
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