April 10

## 1955

**Syracuse Herald American**- Nats, Pistons Meet Today For N.B.A. Title

Syracuse Triumphs, 109 To 104; Kerr And Farley Spark Conquest

There will be no tomorrow in the National Basketball Association
playoffs. Today’s game here will be the decisive test. The series was squared
as the Nats won a 109-104 thriller before the most rabid audience ever to
witness a game at the War Memorial yesterday. There were only 4,997 spectators
yesterday but, after the wild and wooly exhibition they witnessed, there will
probably be a battle for standing room before the whistle sounds at 3:30 p.m.
today. It took the Nats a long while to snap out of their longest slump of the
season, and they fell behind by as many as 10 points late in the third period
before finally coming to life to send the championship to the wire. In the
hectic final quarter the Nats outscored the visitors, 31-20, with the final two
points being added by Paul Seymour after the final whistle. But it was two Nat
rookies, Johnny Kerr and Dick Farley, who came through with timely buckets
after George Yardley sank a three-pointer to knot the count for the eighth time
in the final period at 103-all. Pressure mounted at this stage and first Dolph
Schayes, then Larry Foust were called for travelling violations. But Kerr eased
the anxiety of Syracuse players by pushing in a one-hander from the free throw
circle to give the Nats a two-point bulge. Foust missed another try and Schayes
followed suit. With 38 seconds remaining Fort Wayne took time out but the
maneuver proved their undoing. On the pass from out-of-bounds, Frank Brian
missed Andy Phillip and Farley stole the ball. With 1 second left Schayes long
set fell off the rim but Farley was Johnny-on-the-spot and tipped in the
rebound to send the assemblage into near delirium. There were two near riots
and the delegation of motor policeman was needed to quell the uprisings.
Perhaps the fights were what were needed to get the Nats’ minds back on
basketball, for they battled like Trojans throughout the second half. The count
was tied at 42-all late in the second period when the first hassle took place
after Bob Houbregs and Wally Osterkorn started battling for a loose ball.
Osterkorn fell on the Piston while they tussled. Paul Seymour stepped on
Houbregs. Immediately fists started flying and both benches emptied. Spectators
swarmed onto the floor and during the melee Seymour sent Borgia flying to the
floor with a hard push. When order was restored it was decided to assess a
technical foul against each team for leaving the benches. Then at halftime, as
the officials were walking to their dressing room, a fan slapped Borgia on the
head with a program and another argument was averted when first Frankie Brian
and later police interrupted. Fort Wayne, which had checked out of its hotel,
yesterday afternoon and had its private plane warmed up to return home for a
victory celebration, now must face the prospect of ending a Syracuse jinx which
has seen the Zollners winless in 21 straight games here. Syracuse had its share
of other heroes, particularly Schayes who led in scoring with 28 points and in
rebounds with 12. Four other Nats were in double figures. Kerr finished with
20, including nine field goals, while Lloyd hit 16. Even more encouraging was
that Paul Seymour and George King each came through with 15. Game honors went
to George Yardley with 31, 18 of them in the first half. Brian, a Nat wrecker
in the series, had 24, including some beauts in the final 12 minutes. Mel
Hutchins, a scourge to Syracuse defenses in this series, was limited to one
basket and two free throws and fouled out in the final quarter. The Nats have
no further need to worry over their poor shooting. In the second half they
found the hoop for 20 baskets in 45 tries. In all, the club finished with 35
baskets in 86 attempts for a .407 rating while the Zollners connected on 33 of
75 for .440. Seldom have there been more dramatic crises than occurred in the
final period. First the Zollners and later the Nats seemed to have the game
wrapped up, only to see opponents battle back. Fort Wayne first tallied eight straight
points to take a 94-90 lead with Brian getting the last three hoops. At the
time the clocked showed seven minutes to play. Lloyd and Brian traded baskets
and King clicked on a set shot in the next half-minute. King dropped in another
to knot it at 94-all with 6:04 to play and after Yardley sank a pair of free
throws Kerr rapped home a Kenville miss to tie it again at 96. Houbregs’ foul
toss put Fort Wayne in front again at 97-96 but it was the last time they led.
Lloyd drove in for a basket with 4:32 left to give the Cervi-men a one-point
edge and it grew to 101-97 with 3:54 remaining. At this stage it seemed
hopeless for the Zollners for they had accumulated six personal fouls in the
period compared to three by Syracuse. But Fort Wayne wasn’t quitting. Phillip
sank a free throw and Foust connected on a basket. Kerr broke the streak,
sinking a hook shot with 2:20 remaining to put the Nats in the van, 103-100.
Yardley then drove on Farley for a three-pointer to set the scene for the
climax. In all the game was tied up 17 times. Syracuse was in front on nine
occasions and the Pistons led 10 times. Prior to the finale, the Nats dropped
behind, 82-72, with 1:46 to play and then started a late surge as they had done
futilely three times on the road. Within one-and-one-half minutes the gap was
closed to 82-78 with Kenville netting the first point, Lloyd the next three and
Schayes the final two. A 34-point second period kept the Nats in the early
running. They had taken a 9-5 lead then dropped behind 27-17, before Kenville
revitalized the attack. The second period was only half gone when the
Syracusans knotted it at 34, and it was ding-dong to the half which wound up
with Fort Wayne in front, 55-53. There is also a trip to California awaiting
the winners of the championship if they so desire. Alex Hannum has slated a
tour of the Los Angeles-San Francisco area, offering to pay all expenses and
adding $25 a day per man to the pot on a guarantee basis. If the gates warrant,
an additional split has been offered.

FORT WAYNE: Hutchins (1-2-4), Meineke (3-3-9), Yardley (10-11-31),
Rosenthal (1-0-2), Foust (4-3-11), Houbregs (3-6-12), Phillip (3-3-9),
Zaslofsky (1-0-2), Brian (7-10-24), Walther (0-0-0) TOTALS (33-38-104).
SYRACUSE: Schayes (7-14-28), Rocha (0-2-2), Lloyd (6-4-16), Kerr (9-2-20),
Seymour (5-5-15), King (6-3-15), Farley (1-2-4), Kenville (1-6-8), Osterkorn
(0-1-1) TOTALS (35-39-109).

Score at halftime- Fort Wayne 55, Syracuse 53.