Basketball Champions

Memphis State's brand-new basketball coach. Bob Vanatta, was a certified authority on the task his Memphis State Tigers faced in Madison Square Garden in the final game of the National Invitation Tournament. Memphis State's opponent was more than just another good team; almost every man on the Bradley University squad was also a Vanatta product, personally recruited and painstakingly trained during the past two seasons when Vanatta was Bradley's head coach.

Not since 1950, just before grand juries discovered that some of Bradley's stars were students not only of such esoteric subjects as music appreciation and square dancing but also point-shaving for gamblers, had Bradley sent a team east from Peoria to try its luck in the N.I.T. Determined to bring back Bradley's basketball pride, the team had started off with a Garden scoring record by trouncing Xavier 116-81, toying with Temple 94-66 to reach the final.

Memphis State had just squeaked by, beating Utah 77-75, Manhattan 85-73, and. in overtime, St. Bonaventure 80-78. The startling news that its college (student body: 4,000) had come out of obscurity to the final of one of basketball's major tourneys set Memphis to cheering, induced the college to rush five busloads of students to the big game. Against Bradley, the tired Tigers did not seem to stand a chance. They ran themselves rubber-legged, but a combination of Bradley poise and inept officiating left Bradley ahead at the half, 43-51.

Then Vanatta's skill began to show. He knew what to expect from his last year's players, and he sent his Memphis Tigers back on the court prepared for Bradley's all-court press. Slowing the game, picking their play patterns carefully, hitting the basket with sudden accuracy, the Tigers moved into the lead. They held on even after their star, Win Wilfong, fouled out, were in front 83-81 with less than a minute to go. Then the referees seemed to lose their whistles; players sprawled all over the court, fouling and being fouled as they sprawled. With seconds to go, Bradley's Shellie McMillon grabbed a loose ball, sank his shot and was fouled in the process. This time the officials responded. McMillon sank the foul to give Bradley the N.I.T. title. 84-83.

The announcer's words echoed, through Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium: "This is the dream college game of our time." It would have been a miscarriage of justice if any other teams but North Carolina and Kansas had reached the finals of the N.C.A.A. tournament last week.

Carolina's squad of talented Yankees (TIME, Jan. 7) boasted a 31-consecutive-game winning streak. Kansas, beaten only once all season, had that 7-ft. Philadelphia phenomenon, Wilt ("The Stilt") Chamberlain. The meeting was sure to make a superlative game for the sellout crowd of 10,500.

It did. The confident Tarheels put together a zone defense that held Wilt to only six field goals, far below par. The Jayhawks needed all they had to tie the score, 46-46, before time ran out. By then, Carolina Star Lenny Rosenbluth had fouled out. Tempers rose with the tension as the two squads fought through three overtime periods. Even Carolina Coach Frank McGuire got into the act. "You phony, you," he screamed at Kansas Coach Dick Harp. "I'll punch you right in the eye." But he forgot his urge for fisticuffs when Brooklyn's Joe Quigg sank two foul shots for North Carolina seconds before the third overtime period ran out. For the Tarheels, the dream game became the perfect ending to a perfect season. They were N.C.A.A. champions, 54-53.

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