University 1968 Men’s Basketball Champion

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31767, 26 August 1968, Page 17

University 1968 Men’s Basketball Champion

University has won the Canterbury A grade inter-club men’s basketball championship for 1968.

Although without several prominent players, University overcame Burnham, 51-24, on Saturday. Its nearest challengers, YBoys, were well beaten by Y.M.C.A., 44-25, after collapsing in the second half. With only two rounds to go, University has a six-point lead over Y-Boys and Old Bov* which share second

place, one point ahead of Y.M.CA.

In a third A grade game Old Maroons beat Rex, 36-25, with a rather scrappy display. Few players In any of the games showed the best of their ability and there was a general feeling that the competition might have gone on rather too long. Points are: University 28, Y-Boys 22, Old Boys 22. Y.M.C.A. 21, Old Maroons 13, Bumham 6, Rex 2. SUODRN COLLAPSR Y.M.C.A. 44: R. Millard 17. D. Rattray 14, J. Dempsey 0, B. Hepenstall 5, M. Clements 2. Y-BOYS 23: N. Vincent 0, K. Baker 6, R. Dew 6, W. Morgan 5, K. Williams 1, K. Ewings 1. A disastrous collapse by Y-Boys in the second half transformed this game from an even struggle into a rout. Scores were level «t 10-all at half-time but in the second half Y-Boys threw away possession with an inept display of ball handling. Y.M.C.A. played a much more controlled game and with a regular supply of ball from Interceptions raced effortlessly ahead. In the second half excellent Y.M.C.A. defence kept Y-Boys down to nine points. Y-Boys players’ uncontrolled dribbling, missed shots, and weak passing contributed to their downfall. One of the few pleasing features was the determined play of W. Morgan. The Oft 6in Y.M.C.A. centre. R. Millard, proved his side's most effective offensive player. Most of the other points came from Interceptions, in which D. Rattray excelled. EASY WIN UNIVERSITY 31: J. Yli IS. A. Taylor 12. J. Utley 12. P. Sharp 0, Khoo 8, H. Kawaguchi 2. BURNHAM M: R. Robertson 13, J. Horan 0. P. Trass 2, K. O'Neil 2. D. Simon* 1. Although University only had two of its regular A grade team on the court, it was still too strong for Burnham, which was also without key

Once th* students had th* toad they were content to let th* score eoast along and their defence was extremely loose. University led 23-5 at half-time. The Army players had many opportunities to score but regularly missed simple lay-up shots, their defence was not good but it was much better than their offensive play. Their most effective scoring player was A. Robertson. J. Horan was also a threat.

J. YU had a sound offensive game for University but A. Taylor and J. Utley did moat of the hard work. Utley was outstanding on rebounds and did not allow the standard of his play to drop. P. Sharp, making one of his rare appearances in A grade basketball, showed that he had lost little of his old skill. SCRAPPY GAM*

OLD MAROON* M: K. Fricker 14, J. Edyvean 13. J. Riley 7, P. Thompson 2. REX 2S: P. Lund-Jackson *, H. Jelinek 0, G. Jones 4. D.

Danielson 4. J. McEvoy 3. Thia gam* was scrappy throughout and bad handling wasted many scoring opportunities. Individually, the Old Maroons players were slightly superior but their combination was weak.

Several times Old Maroons had three-on-one situation under their attacking basket and still failed to score. One* they had four-on-none on the fast break only to lose possession with a fumble.

For a time in the first spell. Bex held the lead, but at halftime Old Maroons led, 17-12. However, in the second half Old Maroons' shooting was too strong. K. Frleker and J. Edyvean both played well for Old Maroons, scoring many points. The outstanding player was P. Lund-Jackson (Rex). whose great reach and quick reffexes often turned difficult situations to his side’s advantage. OTHER RESULTS C Grade. —Stars A 40, University D 17; Toe H 44, Old Boys C 37; Wigram Police 25. Burnham B 24; Y-Boys 18, N.A.C. I*. Because Cowles Stadium was not available, all other Saturday grades were postponed.