North Carolina's All-American goes off for 38 on the Gamecocks to give the Heels their first ACC Tournament Championship.
Tar Heels Stomp South Carolina To Win ACC Championship
Len Rosenbluth Scores 38 to Spark 95-75 Victory
By LARRY CHEEK
Special To The Daily Tar Heel
RALEIGH — North Carolina's tall, terrific Tar Heels made a shambles of the Atlantic
Coast Conference Tournament finals here last night as they roared to a 95-75 victory over the snowed under South Carolina Gamecocks.
12,100 delighted fans sat in Reynolds Coliseum and watched Coach Frank McGuire's classy club dispose of their 27th consecutive victim by the most one-sided margin in the history of the tournament finals.
The win gave Carolina their first ACC title since the formation of the conference. But
just as prized was the automatic bid to an NCAA playoff spot. The Tar Heels will meet the Ivy League champions, Yale, Tuesday night in New York City in the middle game of a tripleheader.
Last night's triumph, achieved with almost ridiculous ease, was strictly an anti-climax after the Tar Heels' two-point verdict over Big Four rival Wake Forest in the semi-final round. UNC breezed by Clemson in the opening round, while South Carolina, the Cinderella team of the tournament, conquered Duke and Maryland to move into the finals against the mighty Carolinians.
Sabre thin Lennie Rosenbluth, never more an All-American, won his personal scoring duel with Gamecock ace Grady Wallace. The UNC captain poured in 19 points in each half for a total of 38, 10 better than Wallace's 28. The 38 points ran Rosey's three day total to 106, a new tourney record. Wallace posted an even 100. Vic Molodet of State set the old record of 79 in 1956.
McGuire lifted Rosenbluth from the line-up with 36 seconds remaining, and the packed house gave Rosey a standing ovation. While photographers crowded around, Governor Luther Hodges left his seat in the stands and came to the Tar Heel bench to shake the great UNC All-American's hand. One of the greatest players in conference history had played his final game in Reynolds Coliseum.
The game was strictly no contest from beginning to end. The Tar Heels hit four quick baskets to jump off to an 8-0 lead, but couldn't stretch their margin and led 23-19 at the 8:36 mark.
Then the roof fell in on the shell shocked Gamecocks. In the next seven minutes, South Carolina failed to score a single point while the red hot Tar Heels were pouring in a total of 23. This hot streak carried the Chapel Hillians into a tremendous 46-19 lead, and no one in the magnificent coliseum had any doubts who the best team in the conference was.
The Tar Heels led at halftime, 50-23, and stretched that 27 point spread to 32, 87-55 at the 3:58 mark. Coach Frank McGuire made his first substitution with 4:26 left in the game when he sent Danny Lotz in to replace Joe Quigg. Then at the 2:36 mark McGuire cleaned his bench.
Pete Brennan took runnerup scoring honors for the Tar Heels with 22 points. Joe Quigg had 18 and Tommy Kearns had 16.
Brennan, Quigg, and Rosenbluth swept the boards clean to give Carolina 61-45 edge in the department. Brennan picked off 19, Quigg 15, and Rosenbluth 13.
The Tar Heels showed a marked improvement in scoring efficiency over the Wake Forest game. As a team they hit 38 of 79 for 48.1 per cent. South Carolina had 36 percent.
Rosenbluth pumped in 15 of 25 shots from the floor and 8 of 11 from the foul line for his 38 points. South Carolina shotgun Wallace made only 11 of 28 in amassing his 28 point total.
The Tar Heels displayed some of their best offensive and defensive basketball of the season in sweeping the conference title. They used a zone defense that the Gamecocks could do little to crack, and time and again took advantage of USC lapses to tally on easy shots.
North Carolina G F P T
Rosenbluth f 15 8-11 2 38
Brennan f 10 2-4 4 22
Holland f 0 0-0 0 0
Young f 0 0-1 1 0
Quigg c 7 4-5 3 18
Lotz c 0 0-0 1 0
Kearns g 6 4-5 3 16
Cunningham g 0 1-2 3 1
Rosemond g 0 0-0 1 0
Searcy g 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 28 19-28 16 95
South Carolina G F P T
Wallace f 11 6-11 4 28
Hoffman f 5 1-1 4 11
Goodroe f 0 0-0 3 0
Lentz c 6 1-2 2 13
Pericola g 4 3-5 3 11
McCoy g 5 2-3 2 12
Totals 31 13-22 18 75
North Carolina 50 45--95
South Carolina 23 52--75
Happy Tar Heel Cagers Look To New York City
By BUZZ MERRITT
RALEIGH -- It was reminiscent of another Saturday night four months earlier, but this one had more of a future.
Both of the nets came down in N.C. State's red and green trim Coliseum and the crowds surged onto the court the same way and the handshakes were the same, but New York was on everybody's mind.
Winning the Dixie Classic crown for the first time had made it eleven in a row for this North Carolina team of firsts.
Winning the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for the first time made it 27 in a row. And Yale was 28th in everybody's mind.
It's Yale that UNC meets in the Garden Tuesday night in the first round of the NCAA eliminations. The next step is Philadelphia for the Eastern Regionals, then the national finals at Kansas City, Mo. And a lot of folks here are betting that the Tar Heels will make it.
Frank McGuire, following the philosophy that has worked all year, was looking only to New York.
"I don't know anything about Philly now," he answered to a question. "We're concerned about Yale right now. Yes, we've scouted them and know their ball club."
"Winning this one by a big margin tonight lifts us. Before the game I told 'em that any ball club that can beat Wake Forest four times in one season can beat anybody."
Is he afraid of a Tar Heel let down after the pressure of the regular season win streak and tourney play? "It could happen you know. After winning here all else is secondary. This is the big thing."
The man of the hour, tournament and season, was of course Rosenbluth, whose 106 points, including 38 in the finale, set a new tournament scoring record and boosted his season total to 755 and a 27.9 average.
"We were ready and knew what we wanted, and really came outa there like tigers," Rosie figured. "The whole season was wrapped up in this game."
The question that was foremost in a lot of minds after the game was what sort of adrenaline did McGuire give Rosenbluth to his late season scoring and rebounding spurt? Rosie, hitting about 25 a game all season, exploded for 30 and 23 in two games against Wake Forest, 45 against Clemson, 40 against Duke, and 38 tonight, and average of 35.2 for the five pressure games.
I really don't know," the Irishman said, "but before the Wake Forest game (regular season) he looked like a new man and has played like one. His spurt has been the thing for us. He's by far the best I've ever coached."
South Carolina's Frank Johnson, a soundly beaten coach, had little to say. He complimented the Tar Heels on their play and of course wished them best of luck in the NCAA.
He summed up the troubles of college basketball on 26 other nights this season. "We tried to stop Rosenbluth and get some rebounds. We wanted them to shoot outside and they did and were tremendous. You stop Rosenbluth and you can't stop them, and we couldn't stop Rosenbluth."
[Both articles from The Daily Tar Heel, March 10, 1957]
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