St. John’s Wins N.I.T. Championship

Mar. 20, 1965 - St. John’s won the National Invitation Tournament championship today for its retiring coach, Joe Lapchick, in one of the most exciting and dramatic pages in his 50 years of basketball.

With 18,499 fans at Madison Square Garden screaming from the start and getting louder as the tension mounted in the final seconds, the Redmen of St. John’s held on to defeat favored Villanova, 55-51.

Lapchick, who will be retired next month at the age of 65, piloted St. John’s 20 seasons and led the team to four N.I.T. championships, a record the 28-year-old event.

As time ran out in the championship game of the oldest postseason college basketball tournament, St. John’s was hard-pressed to hold its once big lead. But with the Redmen leading by two, Jerry Houston sank two free throws for St. John’s with three seconds to go, and it was all over. Many in the crowd began to stream onto the court, headed for Lapchick.

“We want Joe, we want Joe,” the fans chanted.

The back-pounding and the cheers went on for a long time while Villanova and St. John’s players received awards. But when Lapchick received the team trophy, the previous noise seemed quiet by comparison.

In the St. John’s dressing room, Ken McIntyre, the tourney’s most valuable player, was shook his head.

“Never, not once did coach ever say, ‘Win this one for old Joe,’” said Ken. “He never would say that. He’d say, ‘Win it for the school, for the team, for yourselves, and forget about me.”

“I hate goodbyes,” said Lapchick. “They are for girls.”

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