Cincinnati, Loyola Meet For Basketball Crown

Cincinnati and Chicago Loyola romped into the finals of the NCAA basketball tournament last night, setting the stage for a classic battle of great offense and great defense at Louisville, Ky. this evening.

The Bearcats, eyeing an unprecedented third straight NCAA crown, completely swamped Oregon State 80 to 46, while Loyola stunned Duke, the number two team in the nation, 94 to 75.

With Oregon State's Terry Baker playing the worst game of his career (he didn't score a point all night), Cincy rocketed into an early 14-point lead. The Beavers fought back and closed the score to 30-29. But when Oregon State's brilliant seven-foot center Mel Counts was benched with four personal fouls, Cincy reeled off 14 straight points. After that it was no contest.

Although the margin of the final score wouldn't indicate it, Loyola had some tense moments against the Blue Devils. Paced by the shooting and rebounding of junior Les Hunter, the Ramblers grabbed an early 22-6 margin and coasted until late in the game. But Duke battled back, closing the gap to 74-71 with 4:20 left, and it looked as if the Blue Devils might be able to chalk up their 21st straight win.

Any normal team, with a precarious three-point lead and a few minutes to play, would have frozen the ball. But Loyola is no normal team; they never altered their slam-bang style, racked up six quick points before Duke knew what happened, and then outscored the Blue Devils 20 to 4 in the final four minutes.

Loyola Seeks Upset

Duke should easily clobber Oregon State in the consolation match tonight, but Cincinnati versus Loyola should be a helluva game. The almost flawless Bearcats are favored, but look for Loyola to pull an upset. Nobody thought the Ramblers could demolish Duke as thoroughly as they did last night, but the Blue Devils simply could not cope with the Chicagoans' lightning offense. Although Cincinnati has the best defense in the country, the same thing may happen tonight.