Evening star., 1945-02-22
Stirring Last Stanza
Decides, 81 10 "a;
Substitutes Shine


There's always a way to win q
ball game. and Coach Dutch Usi-
|laner of Tech TODAY can point. to
his l945 championship basket ball
team as exhibit A in the case for
competitive spirit as factor in VIC
tory.
Tech, outplayed by Eastern for
three quarters in the title game In
the Tech gym yesterday, wears the
interhigh crown because it refused
to take a licking. The final count
was 81 to "a, after a wild final pc
riod in which Tech staged the most
determined victory drive of the sea-
son to overcome 25-to-30 deficit.
AS a record crowd of $500 lifted
the roof with encouragement, Tech
piled up II points in that final
stanza. Eastern, swept of its feet
by the assault, could manage only
four points as the Tech machine
|overhauled it and built up the mar
gin Of victory.
Along with the unbeatable spirit
credit for the triumph goes to the
strategy Of Coach Usilaner in hold
ing his all-out offensive until the
exact moment when Eastern fall
tered, and to a pair of substitutes
George Abraham and Gene
(Whitey) Emsweller, who turned the
tide.
Eastern Hits Its Peak.
Eastern had a 9-to-8 lead at the
end of the first quarter, but with
the count 20 to 18 in Eastern's favor
near the end of the first half
Usilaner thought the moment had
come and sent in Abraham with
instructions to turn on the heat.
Eastern, however, still was unbeat-
able at that time and the coach
yanked the little flreball
The time came, however, in the
opening minutes of the fourth
period Eastern had rung up a
22-to-18 halftime lead and had in
creased it to 80 to Is in a redhot
third, during which the Ramblers
played the best basket ball of their
lives.
usilaner spotted signs of faltering
in the Eastern attack then and shot
Abraham into the game. Fresh and
dull of fight. George promptly
notched a pair of field goals and
Tech was behind by only one point,
% to 30. and it was few minutes
later that Emsweller put Tech ahead
for the first time when he pushed
in neat layup.
The score was 81 to 30 with Tech
ahead. Eddie Charnock of Eastern
sank a free throw and 1t was tied,
81 to 81, but Alvin Lam poured in
a field goal to put Tech on top
again by two points.
Tech Freezes Ball.
From that point on. it was Techs
ball game Bob Lamon collected
two charity points and Bob Spick-
nall tossed in one from the foul line,
but the remainder of the scoring
was done by Tech, with Andy Davis
arching in a long one and Johnny
Moffatt and Abraham sinking a free
throw apiece.
Until Eastern was bowled over in
that fatal fourth, Coach Woody
Smitherman's charges put on a neat
display of sharpshooting in holding
the lead for three quarters, with
Lannon's easy and deliberate hoop
shooting and pass work stealing the
show, and the great offensive play
of little Billy Graham bringing ap-
plause from the crowd. Eastern's
Spicknan made the finest shot of
the game near the end of the sec
ond quarter when he looped in a
long set shot from midf1oor that
didn't even touch the hoop It
swirled the cords into a knot around
the metal and the game was de-
layed for a moment while Referee
Rasty Doran untangled it.
The final moments of the game
saw Tech freezing the ball. with
the crowd in an uproar that left
many fans slightly deaf for hours
afterwards.
High scorer was AL DAmbrosio of
Eastern with nine counters. Billy
Graham of Eastern and Moffatt
were runnersup with eight each.
while Lam and Lamon, assigned
to guard each other, also tied with
seven apiece.
Eastern. GFPts. Tech. G.F.Pts.
Charnock.f 3 Moffatt,f--- 8 8