Bullets Win Semifinal Series against Hawks

Mar. 30, 1965 - Kevin Loughery, the least celebrated member of Baltimore’s starting five, ignited a wild celebration among 6,423 Civic Center spectators in leading the Bullets to a 109-103 victory over the St. Louis Hawks tonight. The hard-earned triumph clinched the Western Division NBA semifinal playoffs for the Bullets.

Buddy Jeannette’s surprising team will now have a shot at first-place Los Angeles in a best-of-seven series beginning on the West Coast Saturday night.

Loughery kept his team within striking distance in the first half by scoring 21 points, as the Bullets trailed at intermission, 54-51.

The slender 6-3 guard failed to score a single point in the third period as Baltimore cut the gap to one point. But Loughery scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and, with a big assist from backcourt mate Don Ohl, helped finish the 1964-65 season for player-coach Richie Guerin and his Hawks.

Loughery’s brilliant 31-point effort gave him a total of 87 for the series to make him the No. 1 villain as far as Hawks supporters were concerned. He hit on 11 of 22 field goal attempts tonight and added a near perfect 9-10 from the free throw stripe.

“What can I say about these guys?” Jeannette bubble amidst the postgame backslapping. “They simply refused to quit. We got away poorly and came back, and they did the same when St. Louis went seven ahead in the last period. It sounds corny, okay, but it was a team effort.

“They were crashing the boards, and Walt Bellamy and Gus Johnson grabbed some big one, and they were getting it out quickly to Loughery — and how about his shooting?”

Tonight was the final game of Bob Pettit’s storied NBA career. In explaining his decision to retire, Pettit said:“In the past 11 years, I’ve set certain standards for the way Bob Pettit should play, and I do not feel I could maintain these standards for another season. The league is getting stronger every year, and there comes a time when experience is all you’ve got going for you.”Then there’s the job with a bank in Baton Rouge, La. 

“I’m an assistant vice president, and I’m anxious to learn the business,” Bob remarked. “I service new accounts, handle relations with other banks, call on new customers. There’s a lot of industrial expansion in Baton Rouge.”Then there’s the house on Greenside Lane down in Baton Rouge, too.

“Greenside Lane is a dead end street and runs alongside a golf course,” he laughed. “All my life I wanted to live on that street. A couple of years ago, there was a house for sale there on a big lot. So, I bought it. Now, I’m getting married, and we’ll move into it.”

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