Evening star., 1950-12-24
dc. TeamFa
lin Extra Period
|0f Tight Battle
Score Tied at 74-AII
! In Regulation Play;
Only 925 Present
By Bill Fuchs

Ralph Beard and Paul Walther
of the Indianapolis Olympians.
broke loose for four consecutive
field goals in an overtime period
and the Caps never recovered
from the shock. bowing 87-79 be-
fore 925 customers last night at
Uline Arena.
1t was game that had the
fans squirming in their seats
throughout, as the two teams
played on a par until that disas-
trous overtime session.
Bill Sharman. Washington's
rookie from the University of
Southern California, pushed in a
one-hander to tie the count at
74-74 with 2 minutes, IS seconds
remaining in the fourth period.
OIympians' Freeze Fails.
In a desperate gamble to win
on one shot, the Olympians put
on the freeze, but it didn't work.
Alex Groza, 6-foot-7 center, threw
an over -the-head, left-handed
hook shot, but the ball bounced
away and Dick Schnittker grabbed
it for the Caps. Before the Caps
could shoot, time was up and the
customers, a good many of whom
were children, admitted for pay
ment of the tax only, settled back
for some more sizzling basketball.
However, hopes for a Caps VIC
tory vanished quickly. Beard, a
mere 6-footer in a league Of
giants, broke through for a layup.
The Caps failed to score and Wall
ther tapped one in for Indianapo-
| lis.
Such antics had strange
effect on the Caps who, until that
point, had been looking like
classy ball club. They began
throwing the ball away. Chick
Halbert tossed a wild one which
Walther snagged and dumped in.
A few seconds later, Groza picked
off a ball thrown erratically by
Dick Schnittaker and passed to
Beard who laid it in. Groza then
dumped in a foul and Leo Barn
horst intercepted a pass by Bar
tells and drove in for another
goal. The score then read, 1914.
and the Caps had yet to register.
i Scolari Finally Scores.
/ Scolari finally cashed in a one
handler, but 3 minutes already
had gone by. Barnhorst put in
three more points. all from the
foul line, to end Indianapolis
scoring, while Scolari put a foul
in for the Caps and Frank Ku-
delka added jump shot. Bartels
got chance to pick up two more
points from the foul line. but he
missed both. 1t didn't make much
difference by that time.
Schnittker. who played a great
game, was high scorer with 10
points, while the Olympians were
led by Walther with II, Beard
16. and Groza Is. Wah-Wa Jones,
who scored "a points against the
Caps in Indianapolis last game
here. sat out last nights game
with a knee injury.
Lead Changes Often.
After a hectic start in which
the lead switched or was tied Is
times, the Caps at one point
looked as though they were going
to pull away. That was late in
the opening period when some
fancy shooting by Maughan, Hal
bert, Sharman and Kudelka
pushed the Caps out front, 20-14.
However, Barnhorst, Walther
and Lavoy connected for the
Olympians and the period ended
with the Caps in front by only
two points, 1920.
The second period started In
the same fashion, only with a
different cast in for the Caps.
While Vaughan. Scolari, Schnitt-
ker, Sharman and Halbert kept
the Caps in contention the first
quarter. it was Sawyer, Bartels
and Byrnes who hit for Washing
ton in the early part of the
second.
However. it was Indianapolis
which pulled out front this time,
with Beard, Walther and McMul-
len hitting with layups and hook
shots which sent the visitors into
a 41-36 lead. A pair of fouls by
Schnittker and Scolari, two
straight goals by Schnittker and
a foul by Sharman closed the gap
and the half ended with WASH
ington trailing, 44-43.
Caps Get S-point Lead.
Schnittker starred for the Caps
in the third period. tossing in nine
points on two lay-ups, a hook shot
and jump shot. With Vaughan
and Halbert also adding goals, t;'e
Caps broke out into an eight-point
lead, and carried a CAST advan-
tage into the final.
Barnhorst, Groza and Walther
got to work in the final and
whitfield the Caps lead. Two
straight goals by Groza and a foul
(see CAPS, Page B-s0