Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1986)
rr-a|j^7|py<gaj|wp^ Tuesday, April 1, 1986AThe Battalion/Page 7 Sports ~ —— — Cards deck Devils to earn No. 1 Ellison's 25 points lifts Louisville over top-ranked Duke 72-69 DALLAS (AP) — Louisville’s Pel vis Ellison lived up to his nickname, "Never Nervous," Monday night, leading the Cardinals to their second NCAA basketball championship in six years. Ellison, a b-foot-9 center, took over inside, scoring 25 points and pulling in 1 1 rebounds as he lifted No. 7 Louisville to a 72-b9 victory over top-ranked Duke. He was named the Most Valuable Player in the Final Four, the first f reshman so honored since Utah’s Arnie Ferrin in 1944. “That’s why we call him ‘Never Nervous Pervis,”’ said sophomore teammate Herbert Crook. “Down at the end, when we need rebounds, he gets them.” Ellison did, scoring eight of the Cardinals’ last 15 points and gather ing two key rebounds that spoiled Duke’s hopes of capping a record season with its first national crown. The victory was the 17th straight for Louisville, which finished at 82- 7. And it broke the 21 -game winning streak of the Blue Devils, who fin ished 87-8, the most victories in a season in NCAA history. Louisville needed everything Elli son could give to overcome a stellar performance by Duke’s All-Ameri can guard johnny Dawkins, who fin ished with 24 points. But, strangely, Dawkins could not seem to get the hall in the final minutes. Louisville was leading (>f>-()5 with 48 seconds to play and the clock run ning down when guard Jell Hall missed a short jumper. Ellison grabbed the rebound and put it back in and the Cardinals had a three- point lead with only 41 seconds left. "I saw the shot was falling short,” Ellison said. “I got past everybody and laid it in.” Ellison assured the victory with 27 seconds left when he rebounded a missed shot by Duke’s David Hen derson, was fouled by Mark Ala tie and sank two free throws to make it 70-65. After Duke scored on rebounds bv jay Bilas and Damn Fert v, Louis ville guard Milt Wagner sealed it with two free throws with two sec onds remaining. “I thought he made some great athletic moves around the basket and that did surprise me,” Alarie said. “He is a great of fensive player.” Duke’s guards outscored Louis ville 85-18, Wagner not getting his first field goal until there was 5:38 left in the game. 1 hat came on a fastbreak set up by an Ellison blocked shot. Louisville’s front line outscored Duke’s 4H-30, but mote importantly, Louisville outtebounded Duke 39- 27, with Crook getting 12. Louisville went ahead 42-41 on Crook’s tap-in. which gave the Car dinals the lead for the first time since thev were up 4-0. Dawkins then hit three straight jump shots, one lead ing to a three-point play, for a 48-42 lead. Mark Alarie made two free throws to match Duke’s biggest lead of the second half, 54-48. Wagner and Thompson each picked up theit fourth personal fouls dining that period, and the Cardinals’ chances seemed dim. But the 0-loot-9 Ellison paced the Louisville comeback with the help of Wagner, a 6-5 senior who had onlv two points in the first half. Wagner’s three-point play cut Louisville’s deficit to 61-60 with 5:33 remaining. Henderson then hit two free throws as Ellison picked up his fourth personal, but Ellison came back and hit from inside to cut the “That’s why we call him 'Never Nervous Pervis. ’ Down at the end, when we need rebounds, he gets them. ” — Louisville forward Herbert Crook on Final Four MVP Pervis Ellison deficit back to one. Wagner put Louisville ahead when he shook loose for a layup with 3:22 left. Duke regained the lead when Dawkins made a pair of foul shots but Thompson then pulled the Cardinals away f or good. Thompson, a 6-7 senior, added 13 points for Louisville, while Crook had 10. Wagner, who entered the game with a career total of 1,825 points, scored only nine, almost six points under his average. Dawkins, the leading scorer in Duke’s history, finished with 24 points. Henderson added 14, Alarie 12 and Amaker 1 I. Louisville, which has been in four of the last seven Final Fours, pre viously won the crown in 1980. T he Metro Conference champion fin ished strongly after playing the toughest non-conference schedule in the country, winning 21 of its last 22 games. Duke has never won an NCAA ti tle. This was the Blue Devils’ fifth trip to the Final Four and third loss in the championship game. Thev fell to UCLA in 1964 and Kentuckv in 1978. Duke jumped to a 15-8 lead with Dawkins hitting 11 points on long and short jumpers. The quickness of Dawkins and the 6-foot Amaker forced 14 Louisville turnovers in the first half . Ellison was named the tourna ment’s Most Valuable Player, the first f reshman to earn the prize since Arnie Ferrin won it for Utah’s 1944 champions. Amaker’s four free throws gave Duke its biggest lead of the first half, 31-23. Louisville’s backcourt of Hall and Wagner was not a factor, but the Cardinals’ rebounding kept them in the game. Ellison scored three field goals, the last after his steal, to tie it at 33. Dawkins’ jumper with three sec onds lef t gave the Blue Devils their halftime cushion. Louisville, the No. 2 seed in the West, knocked off Drexel, Bradley, North Carolina, Auburn and Loui siana State to reach the final. Duke, with a nucleus of four se niors who had been 11-17 in their freshman year, took over the No. 1 ranking after North Carolina’s 13- week hold on the top spot was ended. The Blue Devils only losses were at North Carolina on Jan. 18 and at Cieorgia Tech in their next game three days later. They were top seeded in the East and beat Mississippi Valley State, Old Dominion, DePaul, Navy and No. 2 Kansas. Duke, which didn’t shoot partic ularly well from the field through out the tournament, made up for it imprevious games with rebounding and defense. The Devils shot only 40 percent from the field, while Louis ville hit 58 percent. But Duke’s rebounding domi nance was missing. Louisville had a 39-27 advantage on the boards. Lady Longhorns ‘sub’ way to 1st national title AUSTIN (AP) — What is amazing about Texas’ 97-81 defeat of Southern Cal for the NCAA women’s basketball championship is that Texas’ starters combined for only 39 points. The Lady Longhorn “subs,” however, out- scored the Women of Troy 58-4, with Clarissa Davis leading Texas with 24 points, in Sunday’s game. Davis, a 6-foot-1 freshman described by UT Coach Jody Conradt as the “player of the fu ture,” was voted as the Most Valuable Player in the tournament even though she didn’t start. She had 56 points and 32 rebounds in two games, playing 51 of 80 minutes. The title is Texas’ first in women’s basketball, and 3,300 cheering, singing fans gathered at the Frank Erwin Center Sunday night to welcome the team home. “You are the best there is,” former congress- woman Barbara Jordan, a regular spectator, told the team. “You’ve taught the United States of America a lesson. You have taught us what a team is." The players, driven to courtside in open lim ousines, signed autographs for an hour. Eleven Lady Longhorns played and all but one injured reserve scored in the championship game. LIT set records for total points scored in the tourney and for best overall shooting per centage (58.8). Texas finished the season at 34-0, with its clos est games a 78-76 road victory over Ohio State in UT’s season opener and a 66-63 home triumph., over Mississippi in the Midwest Regional final. “1 told them in the locker room that I thought this was the best team ever in women’s basket ball, " Conradt said. “We may not have any great players like (USC’s) Cheryl Miller, but we have some who are sitting here that would be starting elsewhere.” “This is the deepest team in women’s basket ball,” said Conradt. “Who starts means absolutely nothing.” All-Americans Kamie Ethridge only had three points, Andrea Lloyd five, Annette Smith four and Gay Hemphill eight in the title game. Smith was a 1984 All-American but sat out last year with a severe knee injury. Hemphill was a 1983 NAIA All-American and transferred from Way- land Baptist. Texas’ reserves — Davis, Hemphill, Cara Priddy, Yulonda Wimbish and C.J. Jones — out- scored and outrebouned the starters. “I would be hard-pressed to put together a se nior class like this,” Conradt said. “I would be hard-pressed to put together a basketball team like this.” Chimney Hill Bowling Center "A Family Recreation Center ’ 40 Lanes — Automatic Scoring League & Open Bowling Bar & Snack Bar STUDENT SPECIAL MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9 AM to 6 PM $1. 00 a game student ID required 701 University Dr. East 260-9184 It’s Summer time at Arbor Square! Special-Summer Rates in Effect Now: 1-1 $225 2-2 $300 ARBOR SQUARE APARTMENTS 1700 Southwest Parkway COME SEE OUR BOOTH AT THE HOUSING FAIR IN RUDDER AUDITORIUM TODAY Lutheran Collegians Lecture Series presents // Orgins of the Bible" by Rev. Silas Krueger Wednesday, April 2 7 pm 501 Rudder INTERNATIONAL HOUSE RESTAURANT All you can eat Daily Specials 10 p.m.-6 a.m. All You Can Eat Buttermilk Pancakes $1.99 Spaghetti and Meat Sauce with garlic bread $2.99 *Must present this coupon International House of Pancakes Restaurant 103 N. College Skaggs Center Q. So what is a science fiction convention anyway? A. Something you need to experience to understand. AggieCon is entertaining, educational, social, humorous, fun! 0> -O o V— 5 ■Q uz Q_ <L> O Call 845-1234 or 845-1515 for more info. Rudder Auditorium, msc Qj --9 c? ir 9 ,9 ^ ^ -V aS cT T ^ T f 5 . err Qo Cry CD .A/ Cr ^— ^ /9 *9 ^ T? 9/ o 9 <9 <o ->9 <9 9 -9 ^ 9 ^ co <0 •or' ^ u enr cr o co t co d. ©AGGIECON 17 Full-Con Passes Student - S8.50 Non-student -S13 One -Day Passes Student - S 4.50 Non-student -$5.50 Jju Tr APRIL 3-6