Dec. 31, 1964 - St. John’s lucked its way into Saturday night’s final of the Holiday Basketball Festival last night, and Michigan made it with a fantastic come-from-behind win that broke the hearts of a million Princeton men.
In as thrill-packed a pair of semifinals you’ll ever see in any tournament, St. John’s edged Cincinnati, 66-64, on Jerry Houston’s two free throws with two seconds remaining, and Michigan wiped out a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes to nip Princeton, 80-78, on a jump shot by Cazzie Russell (pictured) with three seconds to play.
St. John’s Redmen had a bit of help from Cincinnati mistakes and some questionable calls from the officials, as they became the first Metropolitan team since their 1958 predecessors to reach the Festival final.
It was a tough, tight game in which St. John’s battled from behind to a 60-58 lead on Bob McIntyre’s three-pointer with 6:04 left to play. Only six more points were scored by each team as both tried to play it cagey and botched up several good scoring opportunities.
Cincy came back twice to tie the score at 60-60 and 62-62 and then went in front when Sonny Dove, St. John’s 6-7 sophomore center, fouled out with 3:24 to play, and Don Rolfes canned two free throws.
At this point, St. John’s got the outside help it needed to win. Roland West, Cincy’s first-half shooting star, had a chance to widen the Bearcats’ lead but missed a pair of free throw chances.
Bob McIntyre then stuffed in a rebound with 1:04 to play, and with seven seconds on the clock, West committed an offensive foul for his fifth personal. Houston, in driving downcourt near the foul line, was accidentally tripped by Cincy’s Ken Cunningham. He canned the two free tosses, and with two seconds to go, the Bearcats tried to put the ball in play from the end line.
Ken McIntyre crawled all over Cincy’s Fritz Meyer, giving him no reasonable chance to heave the ball downcourt for a last desperation shot. And referee Steve Honzo, instead of calling time and ordering St. John’s to give him the required room for a pass-in, ruled that Meyer had taken too much time and turned the ball over to the Johnnies. Cincy, it appeared, had a legitimate beef.
Cincinnati’s Cunningham followed Honzo off the floor saying nice things like, “You choked, ref.” A Cincinnati forward named Gene Smith wept, with his head against the grimy corridor wall.
“New York stinks,” shouted Cincinnati’s Jerry Couzins after the game. “Write that down: New York stinks.”
Cincinnati coach Ed Jucker left his locker room after 10 minutes. He had fire in his eyes. “I thought the call was a bad deal,” he gritted. “That kid was climbing all over him. You can’t let a kid get out of bounds to defense a man. It wasn’t my kid’s fault.”
Honzo explained the play from his vantage point:
“The St. John’s man never went over the line. Never. I saw it. I counted slowly. I gave Cincinnati six seconds; I’m only supposed to give five. But I wanted to be sure. Would I like to have the play back? Look, you’ve got to call it at the time.”
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