[Tiger Fan]

APRIL 9, 1962

JOHNS LEADS LUBBOCK STATE TO FIRST CAGE CROWN

Behind the strength of a 22 point outing from senior forward Tommy Johns, the Lubbock State Hawks downed Lane State 63-55 to win the school's first-ever AIAA basketball tournament championship. The title win also makes the Hawks, winners of three of the last four Southwestern Alliance league titles, the first school from that conference to ever win an AIAA cage championship.

The Hawks downed Lane State, which won the West Coast Athletic Association title and finished the regular season ranked fourth in the nation, denying the Emeralds what would have been their first title in the 52 year history of the AIAA basketball tournament.

Johns, a native on San Angelo, Tx., who was named the Southwestern Alliance player of the year, led the Hawks in scoring with a 14.5 points per game average. He had 10 points and three rebounds in the opening 16 minutes of the game as the Hawks opened up a 26-16 lead before a late rally from the Emeralds cut the Lubbock State lead to six at the break.

Lane State, which saw three players led by Harry Epstein's 16, score in double-figures, briefly took the lead at 39-37 with just under nine minutes remaining in regulation and was tied with 5:59 to play but the Hawks outscored the Emeralds 20-12 the rest of the way to pull out the victory. The final 8 of Johns' 22 points came in that late push for Lubbock State.

It was quite a run for Lubbock State team which missed the tournament entirely last year and five of the previous seven seasons. The Hawks had not advanced past the second round of the tournament since the 1949-50 season. The Hawks finished the regular season with a 27-5 record, ranked 17th in the final TWIFS poll of the regular season. Seeded 5th in the East Region they upended fourth seed Liberty College 55-41 behind 17 points from Johns for their first tournament victory in nine years. The Hawks followed that up by shocking top seed and number two in the nation Charleston Tech 53-40 with Johns once more leading the way with another 17 point outing. The regional final saw Artie Pugh score 11 and Johns add 10 as they survived 57-55 over second seeded Wisconsin State. The semi-final was another tight game as the Hawks, with Johns scoring 15, nipped Great Plains State 60-59 to advance to the championship game for the first time since the spring of 1918.

VALS, MOTORS FLIP SCRIPT IN NAHC PLAYOFFS

After the top two regular season teams in the Toronto Dukes and Chicago Packers drew first blood against their opponents in the NAHC playoff openers, the third and fourth place clubs turned the tables in both games two and three. The result sees the Dukes trailing the Montreal Valiants two games to one in their best-of-seven semi-final series while the Packers now have to overcome the same disadvantage in their tussle with the third place Detroit Motors.

The Vals were embarrassed 7-0 by Toronto in their series opener but looked like a much different team three nights later on Dominion Gardens ice as the visitors from Montreal evened the series with a 5-3 victory. Toronto struck first as Tim Amesbury scored just over two minutes into the game and some were thinking it may be another rout. Montreal changed that line of thinking quickly when Matt Muir, who would later add two assists, scored Montreal's first goal of the playoffs just two and a half minutes after the Amesbury opener.

Rookie Nick Poulin made it 2-1 Toronto early in the second but the Vals evened the score on Charles Hamblin scored on the powerplay with Poulin in the penalty box. It marked a quick stretch in which Montreal exploded for three goals, 2 by Hamblin, in a span of less than two minutes and Montreal took a 4-2 lead into the dressing room after forty minutes. Quinton Pollack got his second of the series midway through the third period but that was as close as the Dukes would get and Roy Forgeron sealed the Montreal win with an empty net marker in the closing seconds.

The series shifted to Montreal for game three Friday evening and the Vals jumped out to a 4-0 lead after forty minutes on a pair of goals from Forgeron and singles off the sticks of Jim Drury and Jean Tremblay. Quinton Pollack scored for the third straight game to give Toronto a brief glimmer of hope in the third period but his goal was the only puck to elude Vals goaltender Nathan Bannister, who stopped 27 of 28 Toronto shots in the 4-1 Montreal win. Game Four will be tonight in Montreal.

*** More Overtime For Packers and Motors ***

The Chicago-Detroit series has been as close as one could imagine through the three games. Each was decided by a single goal including the opener which the Packers won on home ice 3-2 in overtime. Game Two also went into overtime but it was Detroit that pulled out the victory to even the series. Robert Kennedy got the game winner just over six minutes into the extra frame to give the Motors a 5-4 victory after Chicago had rallied with a pair of goals in the final minute of regulation to tie the game.

Detroit led 1-0 after twenty minutes with Alex Guindon scoring the only goal of the first period but after forty minutes it was tied at two with Archer Cook and Ken York finding the back of the net for the Packers sandwiching a Jake Clark goal for the Motors. Nick Tardif and Darcy Sill gave Detroit a 4-2 lead in the third period before Chicago scored with 38 seconds left and goaltender Alex Bomberry on the bench for an extra attacker. Conn Maguire notched the goal to make it 4-3 and just 7 seconds later the Packers tied the game when Maguire set up JP Morissette who split the Motors defense and scored on the breakaway. It was all for naught as the Motors evened the series with Kennedy's overtime winner but the victory came at a price as Detroit captain Nick Tardif suffered a shoulder injury late in the game and is likely out for the duration of the playoffs.

The series shifted to the Motor City for game three and while it did not require overtime, it certainly came close. Mark Milot opened the scoring for Chicago six minutes into the opening period but before the frame was done the Motors had a 3-1 lead as first Benny Barrell followed by two goals from Emmett Hargreaves put the hosts ahead. Chicago pulled even with second period goals from Ray Weller and Matt McGrath and it appeared overtime would again be required as the minutes slipped away without a goal in the third period. That changed when Detroit's Benny Barrell notched his second of the game, a wrister from the top of the circle that Bomberry probably wanted to have back and Detroit pulled out the 4-3 victory to take a 2 games to one lead in the series. Game four is set for tomorrow night at Detroit's Thompson Palladium.

FINALISTS NAMED FOR NAHC AWARDS

The North American Hockey Confederation has revealed the names of the three finalists for each of its major season ending awards. It comes as no surprise that league scoring champ Quinton Pollack of the Toronto Dukes headlines the shortlist for the McDaniels Trophy, presented annually to the loop's Most Valuable Player. The 39-year-old center already has a full mantle, with seven scoring titles and a record 8 McDaniels Trophy's on his resume. He is the odds-on favourite to win a ninth with the other two finalists being a pair of 20-year-olds in Detroit winger Hobie Barrell and Montreal Valiants defenseman Mark Moggy.

Moggy is a finalist for the Dewar Trophy, presented to the top defenseman along with a pair of Detroit Motors in Anthony Beauchemin and Jack Doctorow. This will mark the first time in the 4-year history of the award that a Toronto Dukes player did not claim the Dewar Trophy.

Toronto's Justin MacPhee is the favourite to win the Juneau Trophy presented to the top goaltender. If successful it will be his second Juneau win as MacPhee claimed the trophy as a rookie in 1959-60. MacPhee led the NAHC in goals against average and save percentage this season. His competition for the Juneau is Nathan Bannister of Montreal and Detroit's Sebastien Goulet, neither of whom have ever won the Juneau before.

The nominees for the rookie of the year award - the Harvey McLeod Trophy- are James O'Reily, Matt McGrath and Nick Poulin. O'Reily, a 24-year-old New York Shamrocks winger, had 17 goals and 43 points in his debut season. McGrath, 25, had 49 points including 21 goals in 62 games for the Chicago Packers while the 25-year-old Poulin finished a distant second behind Pollack in scoring for the Toronto Dukes. Poulin had 16 goals and 39 points for the regular season champions.

Finalists for the Yeadon Trophy for gentlemanly play are Brad Lowenberger Boston, Montreal's Jean Tremblay and Ray Weller of the Chicago Packers. The winners will be announced after the conclusion of the Challenge Cup finals.

• Any excitement over seeing the Toronto Wolves with the best spring record in the Continental Association has been heavily tempered due to a pair of pitching injuries. The Wolves lost Jim Jackson for the season with a shoulder injury last month. That was not a crushing blow as while the 25-year-old was expected to claim a job in the pen, he was not believed to be a key part of the staff. This week's injury news is far more crushing with word that Phil Colantuono, also 25, will be sidelined until August with an issue with his throwing arm. Colantuono had the best spring era in either association and was the club ace a year ago with a breakout 15-10, 4.18 season for a team that won just 59 games. There are a ton of question marks in the Toronto rotation as Arnie Smith, the 22-year-old who burst on to the scene while still a teenager in 1959 and won the Allen Award the following year, is hoping to come back from a torn muscle in his shoulder that cost him most of last season.
• The Los Angeles Stars narrowly missed out on their first pennant since the move west from New York last season, finishing 3 games back of front-running Cleveland. The Stars feel they are close but need an upgrade at shortstop and are actively shopping to fill the void. With nine prospects in the OSA top 100 the Stars do have some attractive young prospects including outfielder Miguel Paniagua and righthander Harry Stout, both ranked in the top 15. Russ Hawkins handled most of the work at shortstop a year ago, but he did not hit well and was selected by the cross-town Los Angeles Suns in the expansion draft. That really leaves just 25-year-old rookie Mike Forst, who has some defensive skills but has yet to play above Class A or long-time utility infielder Alberto Acuna as the only options, and neither are a good choice for a team with pennant aspirations.
• The Kansas City Kings have won three pennants since the 1952 move from Brooklyn but finished in the second division each of the past two years. Kings management suggests the club is pretty much set with just really one battle left -who will be the #5 SP on the club? Will it be veteran P Elmer Sullivan or will it be youngster 23-year old Frankie Sawyer. Sawyer has a slight edge based on spring performance. It will come down to the last outing that both will toss this week. If Sawyer wins the #5 spot then Sullivan goes to the pen and Stan Reinert will go to Seattle to start games. If Sullivan wins, Sawyer goes to Seattle to start and Reinert will be a middle reliever.
• To get the roster set for opening day, Kansas City will DFA 1B Chuck Collins and IF Billy Bryant. Two long time Kings that go back to the Brooklyn days but just don't seem to have a role on the club this year.
• Collins and/or Bryant may find a home with an expansion team and there is likely to be a lot of waiver claims by the new clubs. The Los Angeles Suns got an early start on the proceedings, claiming six players last week including four cut loose by the San Francisco Sailors. Much of the established teams trash will be treasures with the four new clubs. Among the players claimed by the Suns include 34-year-old righthander Bill Kline, who was a 17-game winner for St Louis back in 1956 but has accomplished little since them.

• What do we make of the Detroit Mustangs? Are their fans glass-half-full optimists or glass-half-empty pessimists? Detroit is a game-and-a-half behind St. Louis for second place in the Western Division. If you are an optimistic Mustangs fan, you could hope for a late push in the final six games of the season, especially when half of the remaining games are against the Rockets. Pessimistic Mustangs fans might be worried about setting themselves up for heartbreak. If those games are anything like Saturday night’s game in St. Louis, Mustang followers would be right to be worried. Detroit had no answer for St. Louis’s front court of Wayne Wyrick (27 points) and Bill Melton (21 points), who combined for 48 points. Not many teams have had answers for Melton, the league’s leading scorer at 23.4 points a game.
• Another reason for Mustangs fans to be pessimistic is the fact that Detroit has not clinched a playoff spot yet. Chicago is still hanging around, three games back with six to play. Chicago’s schedule is not easy, with three against the first-place Toronto Falcons and a pair against St. Louis. Detroit has three against St. Louis and two against Toronto. The sixth game on the schedule for Detroit is New York, which is third place in the East. Chicago will close the regular season at home against last-place Washington. If it gets to the last game of the year, there may not be nails left to bite. Chicago had its ten-game winning streak snapped against St. Louis, but the Panthers still took two of three consecutive games against the Rockets.
• The league leaders are almost set in stone for who will pace the circuit in major statistical categories, but there are a couple of races that should go down to the wire. We know that Bill Melton of St. Louis will lead the league in scoring, as he is more than a point better than Toronto’s Fred Lillard, who is in second place at 22.1 points per game. Philadelphia’s Dave Woods will lead the league in assists, as he is at 9.2 per contest, which is eight-tenths of an assist more than any other qualifying player. Ed Morrison of the Knights is trying to be the only player this season to average more than 50% from the field and the Falcons’ Jim Bromberg will lead the league in free-throw shooting. Bromberg is currently at 92%. However, for rebounds, steals, and blocks, the final games will determine the winner. Bromberg (2.24/g) and New York’s Simon Fausey (2.22/g) are virtually tied at 2.2 steals per match. Boston teammates George Stevens (2.39/g) and Wally Moorehead (2.35/g) are also in a virtual tie at 2.4 blocks per game. Finally, Philadelphia’s Mel Turcotte has a slim rebounding lead on Detroit’s Gary Moore, 13.1 to 12.9.

RECENT KEY RESULTS

• Middleweight Davis Owens, who came up short in a pair of shots at the title losing to Mark McCoy in 1953 and George Hatchell six years later, was back in the ring last week at the age of 38. The Cleveland native scored an unanimous decision over Chris Herbert (24-4-1) in a midweek bout in Atlantic City. Owens, who says he has no plans to retire, is now 52-10-3. It was his first fight since losing a non-title rematch with Hatchell last November.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Apr 12 in Las Vegas: Longtime welterweight champion Lonnie Griffin defends his crown against Dan McMullan. The 30-year-old Griffn (40-5-1) has held the title on four different occasions and his bout against McMullan will be his third defense this time around. McMullan (22-1) is a 23-year-old rising star from South Carolina and is getting his first shot at the welterweight title.
• May 10- San Francisco: Middleweight champion Lyman King (39-0) makes his first title defense against Steve Bradshaw (30-8-2). King, a 24-year-old Oakland, CA. native claimed a 5th round TKO victory over now-former champ George Quisenberry at New York's Bigsby Garden in January. King has never lost a fight and only went to the judges cards twice in his last 9 outings. Bradshaw, 25, originally hails from Pittsburgh, PA. and is coming off an impressive victory over Bill Sanderson but has lost in recent years to some top names such as George Hatchell, Davis Owens and Hugo Canio.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/08/1962

• The United Nations censured Israel for an attack on Syrian territory in mid-March. The 11-nation Security Council voted 10-0 in favour with France abstaining.
• Cuban exile negotiators will fly to Havana this week in hopes of inducing Fidel Castro to reduce the $62 million set as the ransom for those captured at the Bay of Pigs.
• Communist pressures are likely to increase during the coming year, Secretary of Defense McNamara told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. McNamara was testifying in support of the administration's request for $1.5 billion for foreign military assistance in the fiscal year starting July 1.
• It has been confirmed that President Kennedy will be on hand at Columbia Stadium April 19 to throw out the first pitch before the Washington Eagles home opener against the St Louis Pioneers. The season will open two days prior and the Eagles begin on the road with a 2-game series in Minnesota against the expansion Minneapolis Millers.
• The steelworker strike was averted but the west coast shipping strike enters its third week, with Kennedy poised to invoke the Taft-Hartley law to end the dispute in efforts to ease the situation in Hawaii, while has been cut off from vital food and other supplies.