MAY 2, 1970
A MILESTONE FILLED YEAR IN THE NAHC
Plenty of Records Fall in Exciting Season on the Ice The 1969-70 North American Hockey Confederation season will be long remembered for a number of reasons. It was a season filled with record-setting performances and one that continued to add to the incredible legacy that will be Quinton Pollack's career - that is assuming the 47 year old ever decides to retire.
Pollack had a season that would rival or perhaps even surpass any in his prime. The veteran Toronto Dukes center suited up for his 24th season and set a new personal best with 114 points on 47 goals and 67 helpers. None were NAHC records but all came close and Pollack extended his career totals to 1,531 regular season games played, 748 goals, 1034 assists and an amazing 1782 points. Pollack has more career assists than any other player ever to play the game except for Tommy Burns has points. Burns is the only other NAHC player to surpass the 1,000 point plateau and he ended up at 1,220 - or 552 less than Pollack has. Pollack led the NAHC in scoring to win the Denny Trophy for the record 10th time and also extended his own record for McDaniels Trophy wins with his 11th league MVP selection.
Those numbers may well continue to grow as Quinton Pollack has given no indication he plans to retire. He still wants to play a full season with his son Jack. Jack is now 20 and for the second year in a row was called up briefly by Toronto from the minors and played two games each season alongside his dad. The current season was a tough one for the younger Pollack as Jack missed four months recovering from a broken ankle suffered in October. He was held pointless in the NAHC but Jack did score 19 points in 19 games for minor league Cleveland this season and may be ready for full-time duty with the Dukes next season.
*** Detroit Duo Set Single Season Marks ***
It was a record-breaking year for a pair of Detroit Motors linemates. Hobie Barrell, the Detroit winger who has been selected to the first All-Star team each of the last nine seasons, shattered the single-season goal scoring record with a whooping 63 this year. The old mark had been 50 established by Scott Dueck two years ago and equaled by his Montreal teammate Tim Bernard last season.
Barrell's linemate Yves Dagenais also had a record-breaking season by setting the new mark for assists with 71. The mark had been set two years ago by Dueck when he collected 66 helpers. Dagenais was not the only one to surpass that total this season as Quinton Pollack recorded 67 assists. Pollack ended up with 114 points, two shy of Dueck's 1967-68 standard.
Here are the all-time single season leaders in goals, assists and points.
Now before you go and think this was just a crazy offensive season and the scorers went wild we should bring your attention to Nathan Bannister. The 39-year-old Montreal Valiants netminder is perhaps just as amazing for his age as Pollack. Bannister played every one of Montreal's 76 games, marking the third straight season he has been the only goalie his team used. That is not the incredible part. He also shattered the NAHC record for shutouts in a season with 17. The old mark was 12 set by Toronto's Scott Renes in 1954-55 and equaled by Bannister two years ago. Bannister also tied his own record for wins by a goaltender in a season with 53 - making it the third consecutive season he has won 53 games. Finally and perhaps most impressively he became the first goalie since 1952 to post a goals against average for the season of less than 2.00. Bannister's 1.88 GAA helped him win a record 8th Juneau Award, presented annually since 1927-28 to the league's top netminder.
A pair of long standing coaching records are likely to fall early next season as Chicago coach Mark Nader nears the NAHC modern day (post 1940) record for games behind a bench and coaching victories. Nader, who joined the Packers in 1953, has coached 1,206 regular season games. He is 11 away from tying former Brooklyn and Detroit coach Badger Rigney for number one and Nader's 545 coaching wins are just 8 shy of Jack Barrell's record 553 for Detroit and Toronto. Nader's 17 years behind the bench in Chicago mark the longest consecutive stint for any coach with one team.
*** Valiants Set New Points Standard ***
The NAHC just recently extended its regular season to 76 games so it is not a big surprise that a new record for points by a team in a season was established as the Montreal Valiants finished 53-11-12 for 118 points. The Valiants won 53 games each of the previous two campaigns but finished both times with 116 points.
As mentioned above it was another dominant defensive season for the Vals as goalie Nathan Bannister (53-11-12, 1.88) and his mates surrendered just 144 goals in 76 games. No other club in the league allowed less than 196. Bannister won the Juneau Trophy and Montreal defenseman Gil Thibault (16-21-37) was named the winner of the Dewar Trophy as top defenseman for the second time in his career, nosing out teammate Mark Moggy (13-49-62) who has won the Dewar a record six times. The Vals benefited from another big offensive season from their top line of Scott Dueck (48-45-93), Tim Bernard (37-44-81) and Pete Fortin (27-49-76).
Toronto, led by Quinton Pollack (47-67-114) and Hank Knackstedt (34-59-93) had the most dangerous offense in the league and became the first team in NAHC history to score more than 300 goals in a season. Ollie Perreault (22-44-66) missed 20 games with a broken hand but still averaged over a point a game. In 23-year-old Pat Stephens (46-18-9, 2.60), who completed his third season with the club, Toronto feels it may have found the long term answer in net it has been looking for since Gordie Broadway retired nearly two decades ago.
The Boston Bees finished third in the East Division, 10 points behind the second place Dukes. Bees captain Neil Wilson (18-39-57) may be starting to slow down at age 35 but 26-year-old Ray Dupuis (34-55-89) topped the 80 point plateau for the second consecutive season and may be ready to be the new offensive leader in Boston. Alex Daoust (40-20-2, 2.41) had another strong season in net.
Despite the scoring exploits of Hobie Barrell (63-46-109) and Yves Dagenais (13-71-84) the Detroit Motors were forced to settle for fourth place and the final playoff berth in the East Division. Goaltending remains a concern in the Motor City as neither Ty Monahan (16-9-3, 3.08) nor Sean Kempster (24-16-7, 3.09) could establish themselves as a clear number one option between the pipes. It was a nice turnaround for the Motors as they returned to the playoffs after finish last in the East a year ago.
The New York Shamrocks, once again, along with the Chicago Packers were the odd teams out this year. That is nothing new for the Shamrocks who have now gone a full decade without a playoff appearance and have not won a playoff series in twenty years. For the Packers, who reached the finals a year ago only to be swept by Vancouver, no hockey in April proved to be a strange occurrence as the Packers had made the playoffs each of the previous ten seasons and 16 of the last 18.
*** All Eyes Out West on Vancouver ***
In the West Division the big question was could the Vancouver Totems do it again. Led by coach Doug Yeadon the Totems shocked the hockey establishment by sweeping Chicago in the finals to win the Challenge Cup in just their second year in the league. The Totems were clearly the class of the expansion teams and finished atop the West Division each of its three seasons including this year where their 94 points was 22 more than second place Los Angeles. Veteran Justin MacPhee (28-15-8, 2.80) once more provided solid goaltending and Alan Porter (32-48-80) had another big season to pace the Totems offense. The addition of 28-year-old winger Earl Muirhead (29-37-66) over the summer from Detroit proved to be good both for the club and the player as Muirhead never could seem to get a chance to play regularly in the Motor City.
Los Angeles struggled to find offense at times but the Stingrays had a strong goaltender in Mike Connelly (30-34-9, 2.92) to keep them in games. Connelly enjoyed some pretty good seasons in Toronto earlier in the decade before heading west in the expansion draft. It was a big drop off to the bottom four teams in the West where St Louis was the best of the group. The Sawyers finished third and were led by Pat Valentine (25-43-68) who was the rookie of the year last season. The Minneapolis Norsemen qualified for the playoffs for the first time but their 44 points was just three more than both Philadelphia and San Francisco. None of the three had much talent worth mentioning
NAHC PLAYOFFS
Once again the opening round of the playoffs was just a one game series as opposed to a best-of-seven for both the semi-finals and Cup Finals. (Again a glitch with FHM is to blame). The opening round provided three very exciting games out of the four contests. First place Montreal nosed out Boston 2-1. The Bees struck first when Ray Dupuis opened the scoring in the first period but second period markers from Scott Dueck and Ron Kincaid lifted the Vals into the semi-finals. The Detroit- Toronto matchup was even more tense as the clubs needed overtime after Quinton Pollack scored the equalizer for the Dukes with a little more than two minutes remaining in regulation time. That knotted the contest at 4 and the game winner would come from NAHC goal scoring leader Hobie Barrell, who beat Toronto netminder Pat Stephens fifteen minutes into the first overtime.
In the West the Minneapolis vs Los Angeles game would also be decided by just a single goal. Norm Blakeley, a 21-year-old second year winger who scored just 9 goals during the regular season, was the hero as he scored twice in this game including the game winner 13 minutes into the third period to lift the Norsemen to a 3-2 win over Los Angeles. Defending Challenge Cup champion had the easiest time in the opening round as Earl Muirhead and Cole Petros each had a goal and an assist to lift the Totems to a 5-2 win over St Louis.
Vancouver also had an easy time with their semi-final series against Minneapolis as they swept the Norsemen four straight. The opener was tight as the Totems held on for a 4-3 victory but they followed that up with a 10-0 laugher in game two that was keyed by a five-point night from Alan Porter. Playing their first ever playoff game on home ice the Norsemen gave their best effort in the third game but still came up short as Alan Porter scored his fourth of the playoffs three minutes into overtime to give Vancouver a 2-1 victory. The Totems completed the sweep with a 5-2 victory in game four.
The other semi-final was a matchup of two rivals that had played each other quite a bit in recent playoff campaigns. Detroit and Montreal knew each other well and the Valiants, led by their top scoring line and an incomparable defensive game, were the favourites.
The series opened at the Montreal Arena and the hosts, led by a three point effort from Scott Dueck, skated to a 5-2 victory while outshooting Detroit 46-28. Game Two was a much tighter checking affair and Motors star Hobie Barrell got the only goal of the first period but Andrew Cleverley pulled Montreal even in the second. It stayed 1-1 and overtime appeared imminent but Detroit's Charles Bozek made a terrific effort to set up Jack Dennyson with the game winning goal late in the frame. After the game the Vals learned that second line center Clyde Raines, a 60-point producer during the regular season, was done for the playoffs after leaving the game with a shoulder injury.
Detroit went up two games to one with a 4-2 victory at the Thompson Palladium in game three. Hobie Barrell scored his third of the playoffs in the victory while his brother Benny had a goal and an assist. A Jack Dennyson hat trick and a 37-save night from goaltender Sean Kempster put Detroit in the drivers seat with a 5-2 victory in game four.
There was no quit in the Vals as they bounced back with a dominant effort in a 4-1 victory on home ice in game five. Cleverley scored twice and the Valiants outshot Detroit 47-14. Detroit missed another chance to close out the series in game six as the Valiants were all over them once more, winning 5-2 as Mark Moggy had three points and Roger MacKinnon a pair of goals for the winners.
Back to Montreal for the seventh game and Detroit's last chance to eliminate the regular season champs. It was tied at 2 after the opening twenty minutes and was still that score as the third period commenced. The Motors put the series away with three goals including Jack Dennyson's fifth of the playoffs and a game winner from Charles Bozek, a player who would also factor prominently in the following round.
So the finals saw the defending champion Vancouver Totems looking to upend an established club for the second year in a row. The series would begin in Vancouver but perhaps the well-rested Totems were rusty as Detroit carried over the momentum from its big third period in game seven in Montreal with another strong final stanza on the west coast. The Motors scored three times in the final 13 minutes of the game to take the series opener 5-1. Benny Barrell had 3 assists for the winners while Michael Kilburn, a rookie Detroit defenseman who scored just 8 times in 74 regular season games, notched a hat trick for the first three playoff goals of his career.
Game Two perhaps had the travel catch up with Detroit. Well that and the tremendous goaltending of Vancouver's Justin MacPhee who turned aside all but one of the 37 shots he faced in what ended up being a 6-1 Totems victory.
Things went from bad to worse for the Motors after they dropped both games three and four at home and each by a single goal. Game three was a 2-1 final as again MacPhee was nearly unbeatable and a former Detroit player in Earl Muirhead scored the game winner for the Totems. Detroit led 2-1 sixteen minutes into game four but the Totems battled back and pulled out a 3-2 to win to move within one victory over their second Challenge Cup. When news broke that Detroit star Hobie Barrell was done for the series with an arm injury sustained in game four it appeared all was lost for the Motors.
That is when Charles Bozek picked this moment to make his mark. With the emergence of Yves Dagenais as the center for Hobie Barrell, the 30-year-old Bozek, once an accomplished scorer who accumulated 99 points just two seasons ago, embraced a checking line role but with Barrell sidelined, Bozek became an unlikely clutch goal scorer.
Game five was primarily about Kempster as the Detroit goalie refused to concede, and shutout the Totems with a 40 save effort. Detroit scored once each period including a shorthanded goal from Bozek, just his second of the playoffs, to win 3-0. Back to Detroit for game six and it was a netminding duel tied 1-1 as time ticked off in the third period. Cue Bozek, who broke in on MacPhee and beat the goaltender along the ice with what would prove to be the game winner in a 2-1 Detroit win.
It all came down to game seven in Vancouver and again Kemster and MacPhee were both at the top of their game. Vancouver opened the scoring with a Patrick Ferguson goal midway through the second period and for a while it looked like that might stand up as the only marker of the game. But with six minutes left in the third period Vancouver's Matt Brophey took a roughing penalty. Jack Dennyson, with his playoff high 8th goal, tied the game on the power play. Game Seven would go to overtime but it did not last long. Charles Bozek jumped on the ice late in the opening minute of the extra frame and took matters into his own hands, scoring the game winner for the second contest in a row, on a shot very much like he beat MacPhee two nights earlier. The overtime winner, at 1:24 gave Detroit its eighth Challenge Cup and tying them with Montreal for third most.
Bozek, who scored just 4 goals, but all were timely, and added 4 assists was named the winner of the David Welcombe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
KNIGHTS BRING BIG APPLE FIRST SPORTS TITLE OF DECADE Teams from New York City have won more professional sports titles than any other city. Baseball's New York Stars were once a powerhouse and are again but they are now based in Los Angeles. The Gothams had their time at the top as well but of late there have been lean times in FABL for the Big Apple. Hockey's Shamrocks did win four Challenge Cups in a six year span but that was back around the time of the Great Depression and depression is what all New York ice fans are feeling these days as the Greenshirts have not even made the playoffs in a decade. Football's version of the New York Stars also won a number of titles but the last one came way back in 1960 and that is the last time a New York team was declared a champion. The Federal Basketball League New York Knights won titles in 1954 and again four years later but they, like the Shamrocks, have had trouble making the playoffs in recent years.
All that change in the spring of 1970 as New York ushered in a new decade with a title as the Knights won their third Federal Basketball League crown.
The Knights finished with their best record in franchise history, going 66-16 for an .805 winning percentage. They made no changes in their starting five from a year ago but with four young players in the starting lineup an extra year of maturity worked wonders. Those four were Dick Van der Linden, a 26-year-old who won a Barrette Trophy as AIAA player of the year five years ago at Rainier College, 23-year-old guard Charlie Cavallo, 24-year-old center Mickey Bemben and 24-year-old guard Elden Van Houten. That made guard Bob Terwilliger, at 30, the old man of the quintet and they meshed perfectly this season ranking among the top offenses and most successful defenses in the FBL.
Boston and Washington finished in a dead heat for second place but they were 10 games back of the Eastern Division leading Knights. There was also a tie for the final playoff spot with the Atlanta Vipers nosing out the Philadelphia Phantoms on a tie-breaker for the final playoff berth.
The St Louis Rockets, league champion a year ago, were the top team in the Western Division for the third straight season. The Rockets were led by forward Al Denning, a 30-year-old out of Noble Jones College who led the loop in scoring and was named league MVP for the second consecutive season. Rounding out the playoff teams in the west were the Chicago Panthers, San Francisco Miners and Los Angeles Condors, leaving the Detroit Mustangs on the outside looking in. It was the first time the Mustangs failed to qualify for the playoffs since the spring of 1955.
Each playoff series in the FBL was a best-of-seven affair and the opening round yielded no surprises as the higher seed won each. Three of the four series were over in five games but one went the distance. That was in the Western Division were second seeded Chicago and third seed San Francisco traded victories all series. The Panthers won the final one, a dominating 136-104 result in game seven led by 34 points from veteran Chicago center Tom Midgett and 20 from Dick Brown.
Chicago and St Louis also required the full seven games in the semi-finals. The Rockets led 3 games to two when Chicago pulled out a last second 113-112 victory in game six on the road to push the defending champion Rockets to the brink. St Louis survived with another tight victory in game seven. The final was 110-109 with Rockets guard Clarence Turgeon being the hero with a buzzer beating jump shot to push St Louis to the championship series. The New York Knights reached the finals in a much easier fashion, losing just once in their five game series with the Washington Statesmen.
New York opened the finals at home and held serve with victories in each of the opening two games. Game one finished 113-102 behind a 29 point effort from Dick Van der Linden to overshadow the 22 scored by the Rockets' Denning. New York exploded out of the gate in game two, building a quick 31-11 lead and coasted to a 101-84 victory with Van der Linden again topping all scorers with 27 points.
The defending champs did not go quietly as Denning scored 40 points and Turgeon add 28 to pace St Louis to a 121-114 victory on their homecourt despite 32 points each from Van der Linden and Mickey Bemben. Two night later the series was deadlocked at two wins apiece as the Rockets won 121-109 behind Denning's 29 point, 13 rebound effort.
Game five gave us the first road victory and turned the series as the Knights went on a scoring spree with a 140-109 victory. Bob Terwilliger, Eddie Van Houten and sub Scott Hoekstra all topped the 20-point mark for New York with four others scoring in double-digits. Back at Bigsby Garden for game six the Knights overcame a 9-point first quarter deficit to pull out a 115-102 victory. It was the Dick Van der Linden show as the Knights forward cemented his playoff MVP award by shooting 20-for-36 and scoring 45 points and New York had won its third Federal Basketball League title.
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SPIRITS REPEAT AS CBL CHAMPS Despite finishing in a tie for third place in the Continental Basketball League's East Division the Louisville Spirits hit their stride in the playoffs and rolled to their second consecutive championship in the three year old cage loop. Earl Arsenault, the 30-year-old center who joined the Spirits from San Francisco of the Federal League when the rival group was formed, missed half of the season due to first a broken leg and later a sprained wrist, but the 1968-69 league MVP was healthy in the playoffs and a major reason why the Spirits once more ended up on top.
Without Arsenault, who topped the league during the regular season with a 32.8 scoring average, Louisville was a below .500 club but still easily claimed a playoff berth, joining the Norfolk Mariners at 41-37 and tied for third. The Mariners were given third on a head-to-head tie-breaker and squared off against the second place Baltimore Chargers in the opening round of the playoffs. That left the Spirits to have to contend with a team they are building a nice rivalry with, the nearby Cincinnati Steamers. The Steamers were a much improved club this season, going from missing the playoffs a year ago to a first place finish at 48-30 this time around. A high octane outfit, the Steamers flew by the seat of their pants, leading the CBL in points for but also surrendering the highest total against.
The class of the West Division, and the league as a whole, was the Dallas Drillers who went 61-17 and posted the loop's best record for the third consecutive season. Dallas is 177-57 over the three years of the CBL and won the league title in its debut campaign two years ago. The Drillers are led by the all-star tandem of Mark Robinson and Josh Simmons, two players who were long-time teammates with the Chicago Panthers before both jumped leagues. Robinson was named the league MVP this season and led the loop in assists for the third straight year. Second place Kansas City was 15 games back of the front-running Drillers with Denver and Portland claiming the final two playoff berths in the West Division.
In perhaps the biggest shock of the post-season the Dallas Drillers were swept in three straight games by the Portland Bighorns in the opening round. Further throwing the playoffs into chaos was the fact that Louisville also swept the top club in the East Division, proving that Cincinnati's run and gun all out offensive style did not prove as effective once the playoffs rolled around. The fact that Earl Arsenault was healthy and scored 111 points in the three games, including a whooping 52 to go with 21 rebounds in a 119-101 game three victory, certainly did not aide the Steamers cause.
Next up for Louisville was the Baltimore Chargers, who had survived a tough series with Norfolk in the opening round. The Chargers took a 2 games to one lead on the defending champs in the best-of-seven semi-final series before Louisville won three in a row to move on to the finals. Arsenault's best game was the fifth one, in which he had 42 points and 18 rebounds.
The other semi-final featured the teams that finished third and fourth in the West Division but Portland, fresh off its upset of top ranked Dallas could not repeat the feat with a win over Denver. The series went the distance with the Bighorns coming back from a 3 games to one deficit to advance to the finals for the first time. Denver won game seven by a 124-117 count led by another former Chicago Panther in Rich Edwards, who scored 27 points.
The finals opened in Louisville and the defending champs won each of the first two contests on their home court. The opener was 122-110 with who else but Earl Arsenault leading the way. The center scored 40 points and added 11 rebounds. Game Two saw Arsenault held to 27 points but the margin of victory was larger than the opener as the Spirits beat Denver 118-87.
Denver had better luck at home taking game three by a 114-111 score despite 37 points from Arsenault. Game four Arsenault got into foul trouble early, played just 19 minutes and only scored 9 points as Denver evened the series with a 113-86 victory. Arsenault's time on the bench further illustrated how much different a team the Spirits were without their star.
The Spirits bounced back with a 119-105 road victory in the fifth game as Arsenault had 32 points while Dan Eisenmenger added 24 for the winners. Up three games to two in the series and returning home, Louisville made sure there would be no game seven. After a slow start that saw the Spirits down 10 points at the end of the first quarter, the outscored Denver 31-13 in the second period and coasted to a 111-91 victory and their second consecutive league title. Arsenault, who averaged 32.0 points and 12.5 boards a game in the postseason, was an easy choice as playoff MVP for the second year in a row.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECAP
IS JOHN JENKINS THE GREATEST COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME?
Northern Mississippi Guard Leads Mavericks to First National Crown — Wins Record Third Barrette Trophy
Collegiate basketball officially tipped off as an AIAA-sanctioned sport back in the fall of 1909. Each season since, one man has been singled out as the nation’s most outstanding player. The names of those early stars still echo faintly through the game’s history — Clint Casstevens of Dickson College, who later found fame on the baseball diamond, and George Winter of St. Patrick’s, the first two-time MVP and an early standout in the old Federal Pro Basketball League.
In 1941 the award was formally named in honor of coaching legend Art Barrette, whose 799 career wins at Coastal California remain an unbroken standard to this day. Over six decades of competition, only three men had managed to win the Barrette Trophy twice — Winter, Long Werth of Miami State in the mid-1940s, and Liberty’s towering Luther Gordon in 1949 and 1950. All were dominant big men who ruled the paint through sheer size and strength.
Then came John Jenkins.
*** The Lewisburg Legend ***
A slender 6-foot-5 guard from Lewisburg, Tennessee, Jenkins didn’t fit the mold of the traditional Barrette winner. He wasn’t recruited by the powerhouse programs — not by Carolina Poly, not by Noble Jones, not by any of the Great Lakes Alliance schools. Northern Mississippi took a chance, and it turned out to be the best gamble in school history.
Jenkins played sparingly as a freshman in 1966–67, but the Mavericks still managed a 21–10 record and a rare tournament berth. Then, in his sophomore year, Jenkins exploded onto the national stage — averaging 13.4 points and 6 assists per game while leading Northern Mississippi back to the postseason. He was named a First Team All-American and became the first Deep South Conference player in more than a decade to capture the Barrette Award.
He repeated both feats as a junior.
This year, as a senior, Jenkins completed a trifecta no one before him had achieved: three straight Barrette Trophies, three straight All-America selections, and — most importantly — a national championship, the first in Northern Mississippi’s history in any major team sport.
*** Redefining the Guard Game ***
Jenkins changed the very shape of his position. He used his height to rebound like a forward but handled the ball with the grace and flair of a point man. He could thread a pass through traffic, hit from anywhere beyond twenty feet, and punished defenses at the foul line — where he connected on better than 91 percent of his shots.
He was a showman, yes, but never at the expense of the team. His leadership and poise under pressure were the Mavericks’ foundation. And now, with pro teams from both the Federal and Continental Leagues scrambling for his services, Jenkins stands on the threshold of another chapter. Whichever league he chooses, he’s expected to be the first man taken in the draft.
Right now, he’s already cemented his place as the finest guard — and perhaps the finest player — ever to grace the college game.
*** Mavericks Finally Strike Gold ***
Before Jenkins arrived on campus, Northern Mississippi was a basketball afterthought. The Mavericks had gone seven long years without a tournament bid; and their last appearance before 1959 dated all the way back to 1914. The Deep South Conference was loaded, and the Mavericks were merely trying to keep up.
That changed when Jenkins took over the backcourt.
As a sophomore, the Mavericks went 26–5. As a junior, 24–7. Both years they reached the tournament, only to bow out in the second round. This season, despite finishing a modest 9–7 in conference play and dropping their final two regular-season games to Central Kentucky and Cumberland, Northern Mississippi slipped into the AIAA field as the No. 4 seed in the West Region.
The Mavs opened with a 59–52 win over Western Iowa, Jenkins contributing 12 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in typically steady fashion. Then came the shocker — a 67–51 upset of top-seeded Coastal California, the West Coast powerhouse ranked No. 3 nationally. Double- and triple-teamed all night, Jenkins took only five shots, scoring just 7 points, but he orchestrated the attack masterfully, dishing out 10 assists while forward Felix Hancock poured in 15.
Northern Mississippi rode that momentum into the regional final against another WCAA club, Northern California. The Mavericks prevailed again, 74–63, behind 17 from Al Green and a 12-point, 10-assist effort from Jenkins, sending the school to its first Final Four.
*** Down Goes A&M ***
The setting was Bigsby Garden in New York City. The opponent: the Mavericks biggest rival in top-ranked Mississippi A&M — the Generals, 30–3, two-time national champions, and winners of both regular-season meetings with the Mavericks. It was billed as a battle of backcourt stars: Jenkins versus A&M’s Frank Treece, a senior guard and two-time All-American.
Jenkins stole the show. He hit 10 of 14 from the floor, scored 21 points, and led Northern Mississippi to a 69–51 rout that stunned the crowd and sent the Mavericks into the national title game.
*** The Crowning Moment ***
Miami State, a 26–5 independent, awaited in the championship. The Hurricanes were a surprise finalist themselves, joining the underdog parade that also included Dickson College’s scrappy Maroons.
But the night belonged to the Mavericks. They seized a 34–23 halftime lead and never looked back, cruising to a 67–50 win. Jenkins, playing with calm authority in his final collegiate game, contributed 10 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds — letting teammates Chet Whittington, Green and Hancock handle most of the scoring.
When the final horn sounded, the Mavericks had their long-awaited crown, and Jenkins had written the closing chapter to one of the greatest individual careers in college basketball history.
What happens next for Northern Mississippi is anyone’s guess. But one thing is certain: wherever John Jenkins goes — be it the Federal League, the Continental, or beyond — basketball fans will be watching.
Next up will be the review of the 1970 baseball season.