Evening star., 1963-03-16

a different sort Of problem.
The Blue Devils stormed by
New York University, 81-76,
and showed the sort Of back
board superiority that should
make them the biggest favor
ite since Dick Tracy encoun-
tered Flattop.
They'll play for the Eastern
title and that ticket to the
national finals in Louisville at
approximately Q pm. tonight
at Cole Field House, following
a 7 pm. consolation match be-
tween last nights losers.
Vic Bubas. the Duke coach,
says his club will have mo-
mentum going for 1t, but that
may be oversimplifying things.
1t also will have a solid edge
in height, plus the type Of
zone press that seems to give
st. Joe's fits, and two big guns
instead of the usual one.
Tough 1-2 Punch
st. Joe's has shown it can
outlast one. 1t survived a 40
point job by Princeton's Bill
Bradley in preliminary round
victory. 1t survived a Appoint
effort, a career high. by West
Virginia's Rod Thorn last
night.
But now it will be up against
one Of the Nations premier
1-2 punches, Art Heyman and
Jeff Mullins, and Coach Jack
Ramsey Of the Hawks frankly
admits he's concerned.
I'VE could go to a zone de-
fenSe, but that could destroy
our overall plan," he said,
thinking out loud. TITS pos
sible for one fellow to score a
lot against US, since we stress
sort Of a team defense, but
we'll have our work cut out
trying to stop those two"
If st. Joe's does come UP
with something that produces
an upset tonight-and the
guessing seems to be that the
Hawks will try a slowdown-
it will be the first reversal so
far.
Kramer Gets "a
No amount of defensive
doodling last night could take
the twinkle out Of the stars.
In addition to Thorn's A
points, NYU's Barry Kramer,
living up to advance notices,
hit for "a. Meanwhile, Hey
man, despite a sup-par 6-for-
II shooting night, still had %
points, while his partner, Null
Inns. bagged IS.
If all of this wasn't enough
to excite the capacity throng
OF 12,450, there were a couple
of corking rallies that kept
them on the edge of their seats.
Duke, now the winner Of 10
straight, appeared home safe
against NYU with a 16-point
lead and only $40 left to
play, but the Violets suddenly
became violent and sliced it
with one quick burst down to
four. But only 46 seconds were
left and Duke. picking up its
final point on a free throw by
Heyman. counted them off and
hung on.
MOuntaineers Rally
Afterwards, Mullins put it
most simply for Duke. I'VE
thought we might relax" he
said. But that was enough to
scare US. I think we've learned
our lesson" Bubas may be
glad Of that.
st. Joseph's. now 23-4, looked
even safer against the Noun
taineers with a whopping 90
point lead early in the second
half. But West Virginia went
TO its famed press and stormed
back, getting a fantastic 30
point job in the final 10 min
utes from Thorn.
With l0:45 left, West vir-
ginia had whitfield the margin
down to a shaky six points, TO
"a. st. Joe's, getting some key
buckets from Jim Boyle, quickly
built the lead back up to IL.
West Virginia still had an
other withering burst. This
one cut the margin to four, So
81, with still 3:l9 left. But st.
Joe's, although flirting with the
panic button, never stepped on
1t. A pair of free throws by
both Tom Wynne, a 23-point
man, and little Jimmy Lyman,
who scored 20, gave the Hawks
enough Of a cushion to finally
ride out the storm.
Statistical Edge
Behind all the emotion and
thrills, the story was still in
the statistics. Duke won be-
cause 1t outshot NYU, so to
44.S per cent, and also outre-
bound the Violets, 1892, with
6-foot-lo Jay Buckley hauling
down is, the nights high.
st, Joe's won because II, too,
had the edge In both statistical
departments, The Hawks fin