The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 11

The Salina Journal Tuesday, April 5 Page 11 Great Plains Pg. 14 Classified Ads. Pg. 16 Comics Pg. 19 Phi Slama Jama initiated, 54-52 Dunk at buzzer by State's Charles sends No.

rated Houston reeling HAPPY TIMES North Carolina State head basketball coach Jim Valvano waves to delirious Wolfpack fans immediately following the ritual of cutting down the net after his Cinderella team UPI Photo stunned top-ranked Houston, 54-52, to claim the NCAA Championship Monday night in Albuquerque, N.M. The 'Pack set a record for most losses, 10, by an NCAA champion. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UPI) Out in the desert, North Carolina State completed college basketball's version of Manifest Destiny. Appyling a glorious finishing touch to a masterpiece of a season, the Wolf- pack defeated Houston 54-52 for the NCAA Championship Monday night on a stuff by Lorenzo Charles with one second left.

"We've worked hard," said NC State forward Thurl Bailey. "We've been through a lot. Some people say we're a team of destiny." The Wolfpack, down 52-46 with 3:19 to go and appearing in serious trouble, rallied in the final minutes to conclude its storybook season and end No. 1 Houston's 26-game winning streak. Getting excellent shooting from long distance, NC State was able to pull back.

Sidney Lowe hit from 22-feet with 3:04 remaining to make it 52-48. Following a missed foul shot by Michael Young, Dereck Whittenburg took over. The 6-foot-l guard, who missed six weeks this season because of a broken foot, hit from 25 feet to pull the Wolf- pack within two. He then buried another shot from 27 feet with 1:59 remaining to tie it 52-52. Foul shooting, a major problem for the Cougars all season, came back to bedevil them once again.

Alvin Franklin missed the front end of a 1-and-l and the Wolfpack gained possession and called time. NC State worked patiently for the final shot and with the clock winding down, Whittenburg tossed up a 30-footer that failed to hit the backboard. But Charles, stationed to the right of the rim, leaped for the ball and stuffed it home. "I knew when Whit let the shot go that it was short," Charles said. "I didn't know where Akeem (Olajuwon, the Houston center and Final Four MVP) was just that he was behind me.

I knew I was the closest one to the basketball. I just went up and dunked it." NC State coach Jim Valvano said the final basket did not go according to design but he had few complaints. "The last play was designed to go to Whittenburg," he said, "but the clock was running down. Lorenzo Charles, Tournament Scoreboard FINAL FOUR At Albuquerque, N.M. Semifinals April 2 North Carolina State 67.

Georgia 60 Houston 94, Louisville 81 Championship Monday North Carolina State 54, Houston 52 who up to that point hadn't been playing up to his level of play, then made the biggest play of his life with the stuff." In winning its first national title since 1974, NC State beat one of college basketball's fiercest teams as the Wolf- pack following stormed the court at the University of New Mexico. The No. 14 Wolfpack was given little chance this year after Whittenburg was sidelined with his injury. But NC State regrouped and won considerable sentimental support along the way. By completing its whirlwind season at 26-10, NC State has more losses than any NCAA champion.

But that in no way diminshes the many accomplishments of the Wolfpack, which beat Georgia 67-60 in the semifinals. Houston, a 7-point favorite, entered the game coming off a resounding 94-fll victory over No. 2 Louisville. The loss thus denied Houston coach Guy Lewis, with the Cougars 27 years, the crown in his fourth trip to the Final Four. Houston closed the year at 31-3.

"It feels awful," Lewis said. "I've never lost a game when it didn't feel awful but this one is special. It feels terrible. "All I saw was a guy miss a shot and another guy tip it in." Houston, which has relied on devastating force all season long, turned to finesse in the second half as it rallied from a 33-25 deficit to a 44-37 lead with 8:28 to go. North Carolina State, regarded by many as having little chance of matching up well with Houston, played a patient, perimeter game but refused to slow the tempo excessively as had been anticipated.

For Houston, Akeem Olajuwon, the 7- foot center, had 20 points, 18 rebounds and 7 blocks. But he was the only member of the celebrated Phi Slama Jama fraternity to turn on the Wolf- Free throws weren't kind this time to Cougs ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UPI) As the season wound down the speculation grew and grew concerning the Houston Cougars. They were devastating around the basket and they often won by large margins, but they had constant trouble at the free throw line. And on Monday night, having frittered away a seven-point advantage down the stretch, the Houston Cougars lost the national championship at the foul line.

"Everybody had been preaching this would happen," said downhearted coach Guy Lewis minutes after his Cougars had fallen victim to North Carolina State, 54-52. "They have said all year we've been missing our free throws and that it would lose us a ball game. That is exactly what happened. "Even though this was a slowdown game, if we would have made our free throws we would have won." Houston guard Michael Young missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 2:55 to play and his team leading by four points. And with 1:05 to play and the game tied, guard Alvin Franklin did the same thing.

In the championship game Houston hit 10-of-19 foul shots. "We didn't play up to our ability," said Young, who hit just 3-of-10 field goal attempts, missed all four of his free throws and scored just six points. "When it got close we couldn't make our free throws. That was what decided the game." But for the Cougars it was not just the free shots that didn't go in. It was shots of all kind.

"I have to give a lot of credit to North Carolina State," said Lewis. "In the semifinals they held Georgia to the worst shooting night it has had all year and tonight they held us to the worst shooting night we have had all season (38.2 percent). "We are used to taking more than 55 shots in a game (which was Houston's total Monday night). But we had enough shots to win. We just didn't make enough." The loss was a bitter one for the 61- year-old coach, whose team had rolled over Villanova and Louisville in its last two contests and came into the title contest as a seven-point favorite.

"I gurantee you we never thought this would be an easy game," Lewis said. "We knew we would have to play as well as we could to win. It feels awful. I've never had a loss that didn't leave me feeling awful, but this was a special game. "I feel terrible.

But whenever you throw up the basketball you just do what you can. But I want to congratulate North Carolina State. They played as well as they could, They have two great guards." One of those guards, Dereck Whittenburg, tossed up a desperation 30-foot shot just before time ran out. And when the Wolfpack's Lorenzo Charles grabbed the missed shot and stuffed it home, one player was obvious by his absence. Akeem Olajuwon, Houston's seven- foot center who was voted the Final Four's most outstanding player, was not around to grab the missed shot.

"I don't know where Akeem was," said Lewis. "At the last time out I told him that if they missed a shot he had to be there to get the rebound. I sure didn't want him very far away from the basket." Royals pound Orioles in opener Brett, Aikens, Martin belt homers BALTIMORE (UPI) Nothing went right for the Baltimore Orioles on opening day when even the between-inning songs were booed and Kansas City's George Brett and Larry Gura mastered a 7-2 Royals' victory. Brett, who managed only two base hits in his last 10 spring training games, doubled and scored a first-inning run and broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning with a two-run home run to trigger an 11-hit attack to make losers of pitcher Dennis Martinez and new Oriole manager Joe Altobelli. Gura, who kept the Orioles off balance with an assortment of pitches, scattered five hits over seven innings before Dan Quisenberry finished off a nightmare day for a sellout crowd of 51,889.

Cal Ripkin and Eddie Murray each drove in a run for te Oriole, but those were insignificant after solo home runs from Royals' Willie Aikens and Jerry Martin, plus three singles by Willie Wilson, all of which put the icing on Brett's batting. "I feel comfortable hitting here," said Brett, a .343 career hitter against Baltimore. "The music they play between innings keeps you going, although I didn't like that new theme song. I was booing too, just like the fans were." Winning pitcher Gura, escaped a sixth-inning jam by getting Ken Singleton to bounce into one of three double plays the Royals produced after Baltimore had closed the inning within 4-2 with two runners on base and no outs. "I keep batters off balance when I have four pitches and they are working," said Gura.

Besides being no match for Gura, and having Brett rebound from a spring-training slump, the Oriole's suffered from an ill-wind the blew their pre-game attraction out of the ballpark. A parachutist, who was carrying the official opening-day ball, landed in the parking lot outside Memorial Stadium instead of at home plate. In the lucky seventh inning, when the Orioles played their new theme song Magic as a replacement for a long-standing country favorite, many in the crowd booed. "As much as we would have liked to win in front of a big crowd," said Altobelli, "there are 161 games left and we have to go out Wednesday and do the best we can." KANSAS CITY Wilson If Washingtn ss Brett 3b Otis cf McRae dh Aikens Ib White 2b Martin rf Wothan Totals Kansas City Baltimore Game winning RBI Brett. Washington, Aikens, Ford, Ripken.

DP Kansas City 3. LOB Kansas City 9, Baltimore 6. 2B Brett, McRae, Ford, Ripken. HR Brett (1), Aikens (1), Martin (1). SB Washington, Wilson.

IP ER BB SO Kansas City Gura (W 1-0) 7 Quisenberry 2 Baltimore D.Martinez (L 0-1) 6 Davis 2 T. Martinez 1 2:39. 51,889. ab bi 5130 4100 4322 5 0 4 0 4 1 5 0 4 1 1 1 1 0 1 40 0 39 7 11 6 BALTIMORE ab bi Shelby cf Ford rf Ripken ss Murray Ib Singleton dh Roenicke If Dauer 2b Hernandz 3b 4000 4220 3 0 3 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 4000 Dempsey 3 0 0 0 Totals 33 2 7 2 102001 100001 UPI Photo SHOT DOWN Kansas City Royals' Willie Wilson (6) is tagged out by Baltimore second baseman Rich Dauer after Wilson tried to steal in the fifth inning of Monday's American League opener in Baltimore. Wilson and his KC teammates won the game, 7-2.

pack. The two other members of the vaunted front line, foul-ridden Clyde Drexler and Larry Micheaux, had just 4 points each. Benny Anders provided some life in the second half with 10 points and Micheal Young, who averaged nearly 18 points a game this year, was limited to 6. The Cougars shot just 38 percent from the floor and a dreadful 53 percent from the line. Charles, a 6-7 sophomore, finished with just 4 points.

Thurl Bailey added 15, all in the first half, and Whittenburg had 14. All of North Carolina State's second half points came from its guards from long range except for Charles' basket and a free throw by Terry Gannon. The outset of the second half appeared reminiscent of Houston's semifinal victory over Louisville in which the Cougars trailed 41-36 at the half. Houston, thanks to a 21-1 spurt in that game, blew by the Cardinals. On Monday night, Houston scored the first 10 points of the second half and completed a 17-2 run that sent the Cougars on top 42-35.

But that burst was no electric dunkathon as it was against the Cardinals. Olujawon was the prime mover with 8 points. After an exchange of baskets, North Carolina State ran off five straight points, a foul shot by Gannon sandwiched around two baskets from the outside by Whittenburg and Lowe. Then a 6-2 burst by Houston, capped by two foul shots by Drexler with 5:19 remaining, made it 5246 and Houston (See NCAA, Page 12) Bailey Charles McQueen Whittenbu Lowe Battle Gannon Myers Totals Drexler Micheaux Olajuwon Franklin Young Anders Gettys Rose Williams Totals Halftime- Houston NORTH CAROLINA STATE (54) rg-a ft-a 7-16 2-7 1-5 6-17 4-9 0-1 3-4 0-0 23-59 1-2 0-0 2-2 2-2 0-1 2-2 1-2 0-0 8-11 HOUSTON (52) fg-a 1-5 2-6 7-15 2-6 3-10 4-9 2-2 0-1 0-1 21-55 2-2 0-0 6-7 0-1 0-4 2-5 0-0 0-0 0-0 10-19 Carolina State 33, 25. 5 7 12 5 0 1 1 1 34 ft-o 2 6 18 0 2 2 1 4 44 0 1 0 2 tp 15 4 1 4 4 1 3 14 828 I 1 2 237 000 13 16 54 a tp 044 0 1 4 1 1 20 3 0 1 1 0 2 10 234 020 3 9 16 52 Fans crowd Raleigh streets RALEIGH, N.C.

(UPI) Thousands of screaming North Carolina State fans streamed from bars and dormitories Monday night to celebrate their "team of destiny" and its national championship. "A gift from the gods," screamed a Wolfpack fan as he ran down Hillsborough Street, adjacent to campus after NC State's 54-52 victory over Houston at Albuquerque, N.M. It was the second straight year the national basketball crown has been claimed by a North Carolina team. Last year, the University of North Carolina won the NCAA title. One man commemorated the fact by yelling, "Two years, two years," as he ran down the street.

The scene outside businesses on Hillsborough Street was chaos as fans climbed on each other's backs, danced and shook hands. One man climbed atop a telephone booth. Police quickly lined the streets in an effort to channel the revelers to a crossroads on campus known as the Brickyard the site of the Wolfpack fans' celebrations after each game. At the Brickyard, the bonfire that has become a tradition of each victory celebration began minutes after the triumph. The aroma of beer filled the air and broken beer bottles littered the sidewalks.

Barry's II, a nightclub near campus, displayed a sign that read, "PhiSlamma Who?" Some fans believed the Wolf- pack's play in the opening period signaled the eventual outcome. They noted top-ranked Houston went 10 minutes in the first half without a dunk, the Texas team's trademark. A dazed fan in Sadlack's Heroes, a sandwich shop, bellowed during the first half, "(Clyde) Drexler's got three, (Akeem) Olajuwon has two. That's all she wrote.".