This morning I went on a virtual trip “back in time” precisely 50 years to experience a Rutgers basketball game that I was actually at live when it took place on January 2, 1976.
I have no memory of being in the arena. I just remember that I was there.
I know that for certain, because my dad and I had planned for weeks to attend the Rutgers away game at tiny Stetson University, in the middle of nowhere, in central Florida, after we visited Disney World on winter break from school when I was in 7th grade.
We would be driving back up north along with my mom and my sister, and Stetson was just an hour from Disney a little off of I-4, so it was a natural to plan and catch this game.
Here was the advertisement for the game in the Orlando Sentinel:
Rutgers came into the game undefeated at 9 - 0 and ranked 14th in the country, the highest they had ever been in the polls in school history.
My dad and I had a full blown case of Scarlet Knights Fever as we were following every game the team played, and had already attended at least 1 home game in “The Barn” in New Brunswick, NJ, right near where we lived.
Ken O’Brien of the New Brunswick Home News was also at the game live 50 years ago, and he filed his report in “this morning’s” newspaper that I just finished reading, 50 years later.
I got a nice surprise when I read this sentence in O’Brien’s article, because it indicated there were 100 Rutgers fans who had traveled from out of state to the game, and that meant my family made up 4% of them!
It was no surprise that there was a standing room crowd, because this was easily the biggest home game in Stetson’s history. Never before had a team ranked this high ever visited the Deland, Florida school. And Stetson had some reason to believe they could compete with Rutgers.
Stetson came into the game with a record of 6 - 3 that included 2 overtime losses (in hockey, that would be a record of 8 - 1 - 1).
But even more intriguing was the fact that Stetson had a 25-game home winning streak. And they had never lost a game in the new Edmunds Center on campus. As Don Archer of the Orlando Sentinel described it in his pre-game article in the Orlando Sentinel “yesterday,” “the skein belongs to Stetson.”
As the game got underway, the “skein” was working for Stetson. After Rutgers scored the first two baskets, Stetson went on a 24 - 13 run to grab a 7 point lead. Then Stetson maintained the spread and led 32 - 24 with 6:03 left in the 1st half.
Around this time, Coach Tom Young changed his defensive strategy, going from zone defense to Rutgers’ patented pressure man-to-man set. This led to several steals and a run of 10 straight points, and Rutgers forged a 3 point lead at the half, 42 - 39.
It was just a 3 point game. But the idea that the game was close was just a mirage. Stetson coach Glenn Wilkes recognized his team was in trouble at halftime. He told O’Brien:
In the 2nd half, the roof did cave in on Stetson. The Scarlet Knights had one of their savage outbursts, a 22 - 6 run that increased the lead to 68 - 51.
After that, Rutgers extended the lead to as much as 24 on their way to a 91 - 70 romp to reach a record of 10 - 0.
Rutgers’ coach Tom Young explained that switching from a zone to man-to-man pressing defense got Stetson out of their offense. He told O’Brien:
Stetson coach Wilkes agreed with coach Young’s assessment of the turning point in the game:
Coach Wilkes of Stetson commented to Joe Biddle of the Daytona Beach Morning-Journal that Rutgers is “quicker than any team that has ever been in here.”
That prompted Biddle to open his article on the game with this joke:
The Stars of the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers was led by strong games from their star forward Phil Sellers who had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and shooting guard Mike Dabney who had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
They also got key performances their reserves who could be called the broken nose brigade. Back up point guard Mike Conlin didn’t miss a shot, scoring 4 points, while allowing starting point guard Eddie Jordan, the anchor of the pressing defense, to get a rest.
And Abdel Anderson came off the bench for 12 points on 6 for 10 shooting.
What is remarkable is that both Conlin and Anderson were playing with broken noses sustained just 4 days prior.
You can read the story about these two broken-nose players in my article from earlier this week:
The Medical Men Who Saved the Undefeated Season
Rutgers Fan Support
Coach Young told O’Brien something that completely made my morning today when I read this in the Home News:
I WAS ONE OF THOSE RUTGERS SUPPORTERS!
I must have been pretty loud that night 50 years ago!
And the assessment of the Rutgers’ supporters in the crowd was verified by a “non-homey”, as reported by Joe Biddle, of the Daytona Beach Morning-Journal, who wrote this:
I WAS PART OF THAT “VOCAL CONTINGENT!”
I can tell you from my experience reading tens of thousands of game write-ups, that it’s a real rarity that fans get a nod like that in the opposing team’s press.
What’s Next?
And now if you’re a Rutgers player and you’re 10 - 0, and ranked #14, and just ended your road trip by stopping Stetson’s 25 game home winning streak, what do you do?
You go to Disney World as O’Brien reported:
The Sports Time Traveler will continue following the 1976 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men’s basketball team.
Always a great memory when you can go on a sports road trip with your Dad!