Upset Win To Rex In Men’s Basketball

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31725, 8 July 1968, Page 9

Upset Win To Rex In Men’s Basketball

Inspired by the great form of its two tall men, P. LundJackson and A. Jelinek, Rex rose well above its previous standards to beat an unco-ordinated Old Maroons side, 33-29, in the A grade men’s basketball competition on Saturday. It was Rex's first win of the season and obviously a sign of better things to come. Old Maroons were expected to win well, but several key players were absent and this gave Rex the incentive it needed. This game was one of the few not affected by the loss of players to the representative team in Nelson. Three of the other four teams were below strength and this was evident in their play. The joint competition leaders, University and Y-Boys, both had to struggle to win their games. University finally beat Burnham, 32-29, after trailing for a large portion of the game. Y-Boys just managed to scrape home, 31-30, against Y.M.C.A. by freezing the ball for the last 28sec. Points are: Y-Boys 16, University 16, Old Boys 14, Y.M.C.A. 11, Old Maroons 9, Burnham 4, Rex 2. First Win REX 33: G. Jones 8. P. Lund* Jackson 8, A. Jelinek 7, J. Everest 6, D. Danielson 2, J. McEvoy 2. OLD MAROONS 29: J. Edyvean 10, B. Strong 8, W. Smith 7, G. Nock 4.

Some very smart work by A. Jelinek and P. Lund-Jackson in the closing minute of the game brought Rex its winning points and set the stage for the biggest upset of the season. Jelinek, an American recruit, levelled the scores at 29-all with

a fine hook shot just when Old Maroons seemed likely to get on top. Seconds later he scored again and this seemed to knock the stuffing out of the opposition and the game was as good as finished.

However, Jelinek would never have been the force he was without the service he got from Lund-Jackson. His play was at times magnificent and he was unlucky not to score more than he did. Both very tall men, they rebounded with great vigour. G. Jones also did some good work tidying up loose play. Old Maroons were very disappointing, although their poor Slay could not detract from ex’s win Only a few of their normal team were present and a lack of understanding was inevitable.

J. Edyvean played a sound game and B. Strong also played his part efficiently, although his defence could have been better. W. Smith defended admirably and showed flashes of the brilliance that carried him through to the final New Zealand trials a few years ago but that was all.

Rex deserved to win because, when the chips were down in the final few seconds, it played with better control. Before this, it was anybody’s game. There was rarely more than a few points between the teams. At half-time scores were level at 14-alI. Ten minutes later it was 20-all. Then Old Maroons went out to a six-point lead and Rex’s moment of glory seemed to have gone. However, it fought back tenaciously to level the scores and go on and win narrowly.

University Tested UNIVERSITY 32: J. Stead 9, J. Yii 8, A. Houliston 7, A. Taylor 4, D. de Lisle 2, P. Riddell 2. BURNHAM 29: P. Trass 8, I. Pederson 5, B. D. Watson 4, G. Costello 4, L. Constable 4, D. Simons 2, M. Horan 2.

The joint competition leader, University, looked far from invincible against the second-to-bottom team, Burnham, and in some respects was rather lucky to finish on top. In the first spell. Burnham played superior basketball and at the break led 19-4. University showed more sparkle in the second half and no more than five minutes had elapsed before it had caught Burnham’s total.

However, Burnham ralMed splendidly and the students were never able to get a lasting measure of control. The game sawed backwards and forwards and it was not until the final few seconds that the issue was put beyond doubt. Burnham’s outstanding player was *G. I. Costello. His rebounding off both boards was of a high standard. P. Trass also played well. Unfortunately, he did not get the service his play warranted. University’s play was below normal. J. Stead, J. Yid and D. de Lisle were its most effective players.

Tense Finish Y-BOYS 31: K. Williams 11, R. Dew 8, N. Vincent 6. K. Ewings 4, W. Morgan 2. Y.M.C.A. 30: B. Hepinstall 11, M. Clements 10, D. Rattray 9. Almost until the final whistle, either side could have won this game. From the start the lead changed almost with every shot, and although there were occasions when play flowed well for both sides, neither gained any lasting control of the game. At half-time Y-Boys led, 14-13. They recovered from a bad patch to take the lead again with less than a minute remaining. K. Baker put up a long shot. It missed but W. Morgan took the rebound. For the remaining 28 seconds Y-Boys denied Y.M.C.A. any hope of winning by simply passing the ball among themselves and not risking any shots. These were negative tactics but they won the game for Y-Boys and that was all that mattered at that stage.

On individual ability, Y-Boys should have won much more easily but they were generally kept well in check by their oponents. K. Williams controlled his play well when the situation looked bad for Y-Boys and eventually finished with a wellearned 11 points. N. Vincent was also very sound. B. Hepinstall and M. Clements based the greatest threat to Y-Boys. They kept their team in the running with some exceptionally accurate long shots. Both sides could have improved their positions with better foul shooting. Y.M.C.A. shot eight out of 14 and Y-Boys three out of eight. Lower Grades A Reserve.—Lincoln College 30, University B 29: Orients A 23, Orients B 18; Rangiora A 26, Y-. Boys E 25. B Grade.—Y-Boys B 30. Wigram A 16; Taxes A 33, Christchurch B.H.S. A 33; University C 36, Cashmere H.S. 32. Reserve B.—University G 20, Rangiora B 18; Burnsco A 25. Rangiora C 7; University F 20, Taxes B 13. C Grade.—Wigram-Police 30. Burnham 24; N.A.C. A 44. Y-Boys C 18; Old Boys C beat Toe H by default. C Reserve. —1.8.M.8. 12, Orients C 10; Lincoln College B beat Rangiora D, by default; Deaf Club 24, Y-Boys D 16. D Grade.—University E 30, Stars B 23; Mairehau H.S. B 26. N.A.C. B 7; Christchurch B.H.S. B 35, Old Boys D 34. Under-20.—Rangiora H.S. 30, Mairehau H.S. A 22; Y.M.C.A. D 17, Shirley B.H.S. B 15; Christ’s College 21, Hagley H.S. 18; ShirI ley B.H.S. A 22, St Andrew’s ’ College A 17.