It might not have done much for detente, but the 3-point basket that Chuckie Murphy drilled as time expired in the Rosemont Horizon sure did set off some fireworks.
Murphy, the De Paul-bound 5-foot-11-inch sharpshooter out of St. Joseph in Westchester, made his first game on the Horizon floor, De Paul`s home court, a memorable one Friday as he drilled a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to give a makeshift group of Illinois all-stars an 84-83 victory over the touring Soviet Union National basketball team.
Murphy`s heroics gave Illinois its first lead since the 13-minute mark of the first half and sent the Russians home from their two-week, 10-city tour with a 6-4 record.
”They`re a well-drilled machine,” Illinois coach Dick Maurer said of the visitors, who had practiced together for more than a month before heading toward the West. ”But if we had had the same amount of time, I think our kids would have been in the same mental mode. But, hey, we`re just weekend warriors.”
The Illinois all-stars trailed by 11 with little more than 7 minutes to play.
But Murphy and his St. Joseph teammate, Nebraska-bound Carl Hayes, still had some high school heroics left in them.
Hayes led all scorers with 23 points, including 6 down the stretch. But it was left to Michigan-bound Rob Pelinka and Murphy to save the best for last.
Pelinka, out of Lake Forest, drilled a turnaround jumper with :15 left to draw Team Illinois to within 83-81. Then, 10 seconds later, Pelinka swiped a Soviet inbounds pass, setting up Murphy`s final heroics.
”Rob picked it up, and Scott LaMoine got the pass to me,” said Murphy.
”Even though I lost control of it for a second, I got control, then let it go.
Many of Illinois` most notable high school players, including Eric Anderson, LaPhonso Ellis and Ray Thompson, did not compete with the all-stars. ”I went with the kids who stuck with this for five weeks,” said Maurer. ”The ones who got up at 6 a.m. and were on the bus every time out.”
The Soviets showed the fatigue of a rugged slate of traveling and playing. But once they got their running game going, they looked like too much of a match for the Illinois team.
”They were running up and down the court; they kept pushing us around, but I think toward the end, we wanted it more,” said Hayes.
The last thing Maurer wanted was for his team to act like a bunch of all- stars.
”We`ve been fighting this all-star thing where you think it doesn`t matter if you win, yet we knew it did,” he said. ”It was just great to see these kids from so many different schools, from so many environments and styles, to pull together.”
