University of Virginia Library

McCurdy Paces Cavayearling Victory

By John Markon
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Virginia's Cavayearlings, on
the strength of a last minute
eight feet jump shot by Bob
McCurdy, secured a 53-52
victory over Navy's "best ever"
Plebe basketball team
Wednesday afternoon in
Annapolis.

McCurdy, a 6-7 forward
from Deer Park, NY, led all
scorers with 18 points and
tallied the winning goal with
36 seconds remaining to play.
The Plebes called time out and
tried to set up another shot but
faulty ball handling cost them
possession, leaving guard Al
Drymmond free to run out the
clock for Virginia.

The "so what?" connotations of
the varsity's Navy win were not
present in this game. The Plebes
were a highly rated outfit and had
already dispatched powerful
Pennsylvania's frosh by thirteen
points and inundated Loyola of
Baltimore's freshmen by a fifty
point margin.

The halftime score was 24-22
Virginia but the lead changed ten
times until, with 1:35 left, Navy's
Brian Corcoran hit a jumper giving
the Plebes a 52-51 advantage. With
47 seconds to go the Cavayearlings
took time out and, eleven seconds
later, Steve Morris' pass to
McCurdy set up the victory.

Other Virginia scorers were
Lanny Stahurski and Bob Keag
with 10 points each, Drummond
with 8, and Morris with 7.
McCurdy's 18 were especially
heartening, considering his Duke
game debacle when he missed on
thirteen of sixteen shots. The
Plebes were led by Gary Carter,
who was worth 15 points.

The Cavayearling's next action
will be Tuesday night against the
Tar Babies of North Carolina in
Chapel Hill. This is still a team
with shortcomings, lack of height,
lack of depth, lack of friends
among referees, but certainly one
with the potential to improve on
their 1-1 record.