Banner Graphic, Volume 17, Number 178, Greencastle, Putnam County, 31 March 1987 — Page 8

THE BANNER GRAPHIC, Tuesday, March 31,1987

Hoosiers claim NCAA basketball title

Knight in shining armor as I.U. gets Smart

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Bob Knight has his third national basketball championship as coach at Indiana University unexpectedly, and with help from an unlikely source. Led by junior college transfer Keith Smart, a support player during the season, the Hoosiers defeated Syracuse 74-73 Monday night to win the same title they won under Knight in 1981 and ’76. “Those first two teams were teams that couldn’t be beat,” Knight said. “They were dominant. This team won the thing by hanging in there and making some big plays. “This will not go down as one of the dominant NCAA teams. We won some games by the skin of our teeth. But we were competitive, and we did get there. And we surpassed some things I wasn’t sure we could do.” In 1976, the Indiana stars were Kent Benson and Scott May. In 1981, it was Isiah Thomas and Ray Tolbert. This time, it was Smart and Steve Alford and Daryl Thomas and Dean Garrett.

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Cubs make deal to obtain Sundberg

By The Associated Press With the defection of catcher Lance Parrish, the Detroit Tigers already had a power shortage. If Kirk Gibson is seriously hurt, it may be a real blackout. Gibson, who missed six weeks last season with an ankle injury, suffered pulled rib muscles Monday while taking batting practice in a cage located in an old Navy airplane hanger at the Tigers’ spring training complex. The indoor workout was necessitated by the fourth successive day of heavy rain in central Florida. Gibson, batting against a machine, cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, holding his right side, after swinging at a pitch. “That’s how it must feel to be shot,” said Gibson, who had trouble breathing immediately after the mishap. Dr. David J. Collon, the team’s orthopedic consultant, said he couldn’t determine how long Gibson would be sidelined. He said the slugger might be ready by opening day, with some pain, but there is no guarantee. Six other exhibition games were rained out, thoroughly embarrassing some Chambers of Commerce. But there was plenty of action off the field. —The Chicago Cubs acquired veteran catcher Jim Sundberg from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for outfielder Thad Bosley and pitcher Dave Gumpert. Sundberg, 35, hit .212 last season but had a careerhigh 12 home runs and led American League catchers with a .995 fielding percentage. —General Manager Lou Gorman of the Boston Red Sox said that agents for AWOL pitching ace Roger Clemens had made “a new proposal” in contract negotiations for the 1986 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner. Gorman said that the fact the agents called “is encouraging” but he didn’t sound too enthusiastic about the proposal. The Red Sox made more news when Buddy Leßoux ended an uneasy alliance with the other two owners by selling them his general partnership in the club. He said he decided reluctantly to sell to Haywood Sullivan and Jean R.

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JIM SUNDBERG To play day baseball

Yawkey because they wouldn’t sell their shares to him and “a number of things have occurred in the past six months which were concerning to me.” Leßoux didn’t specify what they were. The sale price has been reported at about $7 million. Leßoux, Sullivan and Mrs. Yawkey bought the club in 1978 from the estate of Tom Yawkey. The Old and the New Monday’s biggest housecleaning was done by the Baltimore Orioles, who farmed out first basemanoutfielder Jim Traber, the rookie sensation of 1986, cut relief pitchers Rich Bordi, Brad Havens and Jack O’Connor and rookie designated hitter Tom Dodd and put veteran reliever Tippy Martinez on the disabled list. Martinez, who had arthroscopic shoulder surgery after pitching only 16 innings last season, is expected to report to an extended spring training program to continue his rehabilitation. Bordi was 6-4 last season but only 2-3 in his last 17 appearances with an 8.26 earned run average. MeerrtWfffie, Cal Ripken Jr. broke

More about the I.U. win, including the boxscore, on page A-10

For Syracuse, the game represented 30 seconds of broken dreams. Leading 73-72 with a half-minute to play, Syracuse saw its star forward, freshman Derrick Coleman, miss from the free-throw line. Then, after Smart’s baseline jumper with five seconds left put Indiana ahead, the Syracuse players were unable to get a timeout until the clock had ticked down to one second. “There’s only one team in the country better than us, and they’re only one point better,” Syracuse center Rony Seikaly said. On their road to the championship final, both Indiana and Syracuse disposed of teams that had lived by the NCAA’s newest wrinkle, the 3-point, goal. Providence, the top 3-point shooting team in the country, lost 77-63 to Syracuse in one semifinal, and the

out of a 6-for-46 slump with three doubles and a single, driving in five runs as the Orioles defeated the Montreal Expos 9-7 and ended a fivegame losing streak. John Shelby had a double and an inside-the-park homer. The Minnesota Twins released veteran infielder Ron Washington. Graig Nettles’ hot spring has earned him the chance for another major league summer. The Atlanta Braves told the 42-year-old former New York Yankees star that he made the team as a backup first baseman-third baseman. Nettles helped his chances Sunday by hitting three homers in a game against Baltimore. Exhibition Games —Rick Mahler allowed one run and seven hits in eight innings as the Braves defeated the New York Yankees 6-1. The Braves broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with a four-run outburst against loser Charles Hudson. —Mike Mason became the first Texas pitcher to go eight innings, giving up one run and seven hits as the Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1. Oddibe McDowell homered for Texas. —Milwaukee’s Bill Wegman allowed one run and six hits in seven innings as the Brewers edged the Chicago Cubs 2-1. —Candy Maldonado hit a two-run homer and an RBI single in San Francisco’s eight-run sixth inning as the Giants totaled 19 hits in a 19-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics. In the eight-run inning, losing pitcher Cliff Young threw three wild pitches and the A’s committed two errors. Mackey Sasser hit a solo homer for the Giants and Matt Williams had a three-run shot. —The Cleveland Indians, held to two hits through eight innings, rallied for four runs in the ninth to defeat the Seattle Mariners 5-3. Brett Butler tripled home the tying run and scored on Julio Franco’s single. Joe Carter followed with a two-run homer. Cory Snyder also homered for Cleveland. —Don Sutton pitched six innings and Wally Joyner’s two-run single keyed a three-run second as the California Angels blanked the San Diego Padres 6-0.

Hoosiers defeated top-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas, the country’s No. 2 long-range team, 97-93 in the other semifinal Saturday. Ironically, when it came to the championship, Indiana profited mightily from the rule that Knight hates so much. Alford, Indiana’s all-time leading scorer, hit 7-of-10 3-point attempts and scored all but two of his team-leading 23 points from outside the 19-foot, 9-inch stripe. “I got on Ed Steitz (secretary of the NCAA’s Rules Committee) about the 3-point shot, and he’s never hesitated to come back at me about it,” Knight said. “He told me he put it in so I could use it with Steve Alford and win the national championship. ‘The thing I like least in basketball is the 3-point shot. Thanks, Ed.” The championship was the fifth overall for the Hoosiers, 30-4, who also won in l‘s4o and 1953 under Branch McCracken. Only UCLA, with 10, has more. Kentucky also has five. “Things couldn’t have ended up better for the three seniors on this team,” Alford said of himself and teammates Thomas and reserve Todd Meier. Although there was little consolation in losing, Syracuse could look back at one of its best seasons. The Orangemen finished 31-7 and were in their first NCAA championship game. “The Lilli) thd everything we asked them to do the whole game, and it came down that somebody had to make a play at the end,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. “Indiana made a great play, and that’s why they won. They deserved it. “It wasn’t a foul shot that lost the game.” Boeheim has taken the Orangemen to the tournament nine times in his 11 seasons but had never gotten past the second round until this year. Boeheim bristled when reminded that he carried a reputation as a coach who couldn’t win the big ones. “The media puts too much attention on tournament records,” he said. “We could have lost in the first round, and if he we had, I guess I would still be a lousy coach.” “There’s no reason for us to hang our heads,” Coleman said. “Hopefully, we’ll be back.” Smart scored 21 points for Indiana and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. He had six assists, five rebounds and a lean-in jumper after driving the left baseline to win the game. “We were concentrating on the 3-pointer by Alford, and that’s why they were able to go inside,” Coleman said. On Indiana’s final possession, Syracuse went to a box-and-one zone defense with Howard Triche assigned to Alford. “We were just trying to contain the perimeter,” Triche said. “We were successful for a little while, and the ball kept going in and back out. There was a little bit of a scramble, and he (Smart) came up with a pretty good shot.” Syracuse led by as many as eight points, with 13:14 to play, but Smart had three points and an assist in a 10-0 run that got Indiana ahead 54-52. Smart scored 10 points in the final 5:41, including a driving layup that pulled Indiana within 73-72 with 32 seconds to play. The basket came on a fast break after a missed free throw by Syracuse’s Triche. “I just took what was given to me,” said Smart, who came in averaging 10.9 points per game. “Syracuse was sagging inside and covering Steve tight, so he was looking for me and that worked. It’s great to have a player like Steve because it opens up so much for the others on the team. ” With 30 seconds left, Indiana called timeout, and Smart fouled Coleman on the inbbunds play, sending Syracuse to the line with 28 seconds left. Boeheim opted to send all his players back on defense, so Indiana

Smart gives credit to supporting cast

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Keith Smart, who put on a one-man show in Indiana’s NCAA championship victory over Syracuse, insisted his supporting cast should have its name in lights as well. “It was a team effort the whole night,” Smart said after scoring 17 of his 21 points in the second half, including the game-winning shot with five seconds to play, in the Hoosiers’ 74-73 victory Monday night. His lategame heroics resulted in his being named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. “We played together all year, and at the end, any five of the players could have taken the shot,” he said. But it was Smart who got the call, and he won the game by sinking a jumper from the left baseline. “I didn’t think it was going to go in,” Smart said. “I was just hoping it would hit the rim and one of the other guys would grab it and put it in.” Ironically, that’s how Indiana advanced to the Final Four, when Daryl Thomas’ air ball with six seconds to play against Louisiana State was put in by Rick Calloway with six seconds to play, giving the Hoosiers a one-point win. Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said the Orangemen used a box-and-one defense in the closing seconds to make sure two-time All-America Steve Alford didn’t get the ball. “Smart made a great play,” Alford said. With time running out, Smart had the ball left of the key and dumped it inside to Thomas, who then gave it back to Smart, who went over Howard Triche for the game-winner. “He came up with a pretty good shot and made an excellent play,” Triche said. That Smart, a junior college transfer who grew up 70 miles away in Baton Rouge, hit the game-winner should have surprised no one. He scored 14 points in the final 9:35, in-

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An Indiana University basketball fan got his wish Monday night as the Hoosiers defeated Syracuse to win the national title. lined up along the lane alone. Coleman, a 69-percent foul shooter for the season, missed the first shot of the 1-and-l, turning over possession to Indiana, which worked for Smart’s final shot at the five-second mark. Questioned about the strategy of clearing the foul lane, Boeheim said: “I think I made a mistake. I think I made it on the earlier free throw (by Triche). I should have kept the guys back then, and maybe they wouldn’t have gotten the transition basket Smart got. We had the lead, and we weren’t worrying about scoring more points. We had enough points to win.” After working the ball in and out several times, Indiana got it to Smart. Smart, who went to Garden City Junior College in Kansas the past two years, took a pass from Thomas and worked along the baseline for the winning shot. “We worked it around for about 10 seconds, and I knew time was running out, so I just took the shot,” Smart said. “Actually, the play was designed for Steve, but it broke down and the shot went to me. “Pickup games are the only time I’ve ever made a shot like this before.”

1887 NCAA All-Tournament Team By The Associated Press The 1987 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team: x-Keith Smart, Indiana. Steve Alford, Indiana. Derrick Coleman, Syracuse. Sherman Douglas, Syracuse. Armon Gilliam, Nevada-Las Vegas. x-Most Valuable Player

eluding eight of the Hoosiers’ last nine points. “When we started that stretch, we wanted Keith to get 12 points before the home folks,” Indiana Coach Bob Knight said jokingly. “I figured 16 points would be enough to win it, and we wanted Keith to get 12 of them.” Alford, the Hoosiers’ all-time scoring leader, finished with 23 points, all but two from 3-point range. However, he made only one basket in the final 11 minutes as Syracuse hounded him with a number of different defensive schemes. But Smart, who scored 14 points before fouling out in the Hoosiers’ 9793 semifinal victory over NevadaLas Vegas, took charge and kept Indiana in the game. “At halftime, Coach told me I had to get into the game,” Smart said. “I was able to penetrate the gaps, dump off some passes and make some shots. “They were giving me the baseline. I knew if I could get one step, I’d be all right.” Is the baseline jumper his favorite shot? “If it goes in, that’s my shot,” he said. Thomas, whose 20 points from inside helped give Smart room to work, gave credit to his teammate for taking control. “He played way above his head.

SMART

He was just outstanding,” Thomas said. Smart shrugged when asked if he decided in the closing minutes to take matters into his hands. “It looked like that, but it didn’t feel that way at all,” he said. “Steve Alford is the man on this team. “I just took what was given to me. Syracuse was sagging inside and covering Steve tight, so he was looking for me and that worked. “We have never panicked, not one time this year,” he said. “If Steve is covered, someone steps forward. Daryl has done it, Dean (Garrett) has done it. Tonight it was my turn. “I couldn’t dream of coming home like this and having this happen,” he said. Smart and Alford were voted to the all-tournament team, along with Sherman Douglas and Derrick Coleman of Syracuse, and Armon Gilliam of Nevada-Las Vegas.

DePauw banquet set April 5 The annual DePauw University Men’s Basketball Banquet will be held at noon Sunday, April 5 at DePauw Union ballroom. The public is invited to attend and can reserve tickets at $7 each by calling the DePauw Athletic Department office (658-4834) before Friday, April 3. The banquet will honor the players from the Tigers’ 1986-87 NCAA playoff team. Seniors and members of the coaching staff will address the luncheon.

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