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1966 • Basketball Clip • Bob Feller on Ernie Calverey - Radio · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is RetroSports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  The basketball today is dominated by the big man. But as long as the game is played, there will always be a place for the little guy.
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  This is a story about a basketball player named Ernie Commery who played at Rhode Island State.
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  Ernie was only 5' 10'' tall and weighed a wee 140 pounds. But oh how he could shoot.
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  He's a small man in the middle 1940's so you can imagine how he would stack up in today's game of Giants.
• 0:31
  Rhode Island earned a birth in the 1946 National Inmitation Tourney at New York's Madison Square Garden.
• 0:37
  The NIT, as it is popular known, is one of the top attractions of the basketball season.
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  Rhode Island was paired against tall and talented Bowling Green of Kentucky in the opening round.
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  And the New England team was considered the underdog.
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  The 6' 11'' Don Otten was a scoring star of Bowling Green and it was a mild surprise as Rhode Island held a slim 34-32 lead as the team left the court at the half-time intermission.
• 1:02
  How long would it take before Bowling Green's superiority took its toll? The fans wondered so did the coaches.
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  But the Rhode Island coach had one ace in the hole. He's sharp shooting little guard Ernie Commery.
• 1:14
  Ernie was a reason why Rhode Island was still in the game. The second half open and the two schools matched basket for basket.
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  Neither side could move to any kind of a lead. Otten was controlling the boards with a bigger Bowling Green quintet.
• 1:26
  Commery was picking up support from garden fans with his one-handed shot, his ball-hawking, and his all-round ability to keep his club in the game.
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  The game moved along. Rhode Island in the lead, then Bowling Green.
• 1:36
  Then, with the clock showing only three minutes and twenty seconds to play, Otten fouled out.
• 1:41
  A break for Rhode Island. The big guy had scored 31 points and pulled down almost as many rebounds.
• 1:47
  Ernie and his teammates had received new hope now. Commery had the ball. One minute and ten seconds remained.
• 1:54
  Ernie shot. The ball switched to the net. The score was tied at 72-72. Bowling Green decided to play for only one shot.
• 2:01
  Bowling Green team didn't want to make any mistakes. One shot was all it needed.
• 2:05
  Rhode Island didn't want to foul and send the player to the free throw line. The clock showed just ten seconds of play.
• 2:11
  Vern Dunham drove for the basket. The shot was good. Bowling Green led 74-72.
• 2:17
  Rhode Island had the ball and moved down court. A whistle. A Rhode Island player had been fouled, but Rhode Island waved the foul.
• 2:24
  Only two seconds remained. We'll be back in 60 seconds for the throwing wind-up.
• 2:28
  Ernie Commery was a marked man as the teams lined up. Two Bowling Green players guarded him.
• 2:33
  But Ernie was a man for the final shot. He took the pass to Mount of Bounds, whirled, and fired a long desperation shot.
• 2:40
  As the ball sailed high into the air, the buzzer sounded. The ball finally came down. And through the nets, it was good.
• 2:46
  Ernie Commery had tied the game with a 55-foot desperation shot at the buzzer. One of the greatest shots in basketball history.
• 2:53
  Rhode Island went on to beat Bowling Green in overtime, and it reached the final round, only to lose to Kentucky.
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  But to some 18,000 basketball fans, the biggest thrill of the 1946 tourney came with a little guy named Commery,
• 3:05
  Caught in an almost unbelievable shot that took Rhode Island to the finals of the NIT.
• 3:11
  1-0, that was 6.