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110%er [5014]
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February 25 1980-81 Duke Littlejohn Coliseum • Clemson, SC W 54–52
Feb 10, 2022, 2:24 PM
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Freshman year. Had to take whatever room that I could get, and was stuck in the top floor of the lower off Quad frat dorm On the FIJI Hall. There were not but a hand full of those guys at the time, and so there were a good many non-frat freshman and some non-revenue sport Athletes that were living there as well.
Here is the first trivia question of this post. I guess there is no way to stop you from cheating , but then if you ain't cheating, you ain't racin' . 1. Other than someone living on one of the worst floors of any men's dorm in Clemson at the time with Esso, who was Noel Loaban, and why is he part of Clemson Lore?
Now to the reason for the post, Duke was coming to town, pretty sure that it was a mid-week game. They were ranked in the top 5 and may have even been top ranked. We had started drinking "Heaven Hill Bourbon" about three in the afternoon from 32 ounce large plastic cups. Buuze was sold in "imperial" quarts and half gallons at the time boys. None of this liter nonsense.The fire marshall was not ordered to count the students and keep the aisles clear back in the day either.
Needless to say, we were not at the front of the line to get in to the game. But into the game, we did go. I was full of vim and vigor at the start of the game, and had found a spot on the steps of the aisle right beside our beloved pep band. I could not imagine why the step I chose was still available right before the start of the game. I found out shortly. As the band including the first chair trumapeteer (is that what you call them)with his trumpet almost nestled on my shoulder kicked of what would be one of probably 200 renditions of Tiger Rag!!!
The game is quite a blur to me to this day, and I get a little tipsy even watching tape of that game. Boys, we beat those Blue Devils in little john that night. I never left my stoop in front, and slightly to the right of that trumpet player. But I yelled and I stomped , and have never experienced a clemson basketball game in person that had my orange bllod pumping at such a feverish pace.
When the game was over and yes we had stormed t he floor, we rekindled the party in that hell hole of a dorm that I called home that year.One thing led to another and, now we get "to the rest of the story"
I was being chased down the hall for what was left of the Heaven Hill (Green Label, 11.00 per half gallon I believe), and as I bolted through the heavy doors at the end of the Hall into the stairwell, i pushed my Heaven Hill carrying right hand almost in a fist around the neck of that Green Label concoction right through the heavy duty Class Panel with the embedded wire mesh inside the pane. Someone will have to explain what I am talking about to you younguns.
As I screeched to a halt at the top of the top flight of stairs a saw the blood just gushing out of the back of my hand. Right behind the knuckles. Now Esso had been injured many times in the past, but I had never seen this much blood coming out of one person except in the late 1970's Halloween movies. Oddly it didn't hurt at all, but try as they may , no one on the hall could get it to stop. Next thing that I knew the ambulance was there to pick me up and take me to Redfern. I remember being very worried that they were going to give me shots for the pain before they stitched me up, and that combined with the Green Label, Heaven Hill, in Imperially sized, half gallon bottles that cost about 11 dollars each those shots were going to kill Esso.
Eventually they convinced me at Redfern that I needed the shot, but only after I let them try to do a few with the just the liquor to keep back the screams.
I never got in trouble for that night, nor did I ever get a bill for the window I put my hand through. took a good bit of ribbing from a lot of people for a long time after that night.
February 25 Duke Littlejohn Coliseum • Clemson, SC W 54–52
I am going to add a picture of the back of my fist today. If you look closely you can still see the faint light ine that is the scar that resulted from that night. When I get a suntan, the scar stands out brightly as a reminder that yes my tiger friends! Clemson can beat a top 5 Duke team in Little John on a cold winter night, even when no one else believes it!!
Oh, the answer to the Trivia question. Noel Loban won a national championship in wrestling at Clemson. He may have been the only Clemson wrestler to ever do that . I challenged him to a wrestling match in the Fiji Lounge one afternoon that year. The match did not last but a moment, but that story will have to save for another day.
Message was edited by: EssoClub2®
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All-TigerNet [10958]
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Re: February 25 1981 Duke Littlejohn Coliseum • Clemson, SC W 54–52
Feb 10, 2022, 2:33 PM
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Nice. but the year before that was even bigger.
13k and upset #1 Duke:
https://clemsontigers.com/big-win-before-the-largest-crowd/Big Win Before the Largest Crowd By Sam Blackman It was the perfect night for an upset. On January 9, 1980, exactly 35 years ago, one of Clemson’s biggest landmark basketball wins occurred before the largest crowd in Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson students were back in town from their Christmas and holiday break on this Wednesday night. Number-one Duke was in town and everyone wanted to see the 18th-ranked Tigers tangle with the Blue Devils that night. The Blue Devils had its share of household names, Gene Banks, Kenny Dennard, Mike Gminski, Bob Bender and Vince Taylor. But so did Clemson as Larry Nance, Horace Wyatt, Moose Campbell, Bobby Conrad, and Billy Williams rounded out the starters for Clemson. These Tigers would eventually make up the team that advanced to the NCAA’s Elite Eight later that season. There was a Clemson women’s game prior to the men’s game that night. Fans were coming into Littlejohn in droves. For the women’s game there were 9,000 people, a Clemson women’s attendance record that still stands today. With that many people in Littlejohn that early, how many more would squeeze into the arena? When all was said and done there were 13, 864 people in Littlejohn Coliseum that had a seating capacity of 10,638. They were sitting and standing everywhere; in the aisles, around the concourse that separates the lower bowl and the upper sections of Littlejohn and everywhere else that a person could see the court. They probably would have sat on the rafters and catwalks above the court and around the ceiling but there were not enough ladders to go up there. The Understanding Crowd “At that time, if a student had an activity card, we did not turn them away,” said longtime Clemson Athletic Ticket Manager and current Game Management Director, Van Hilderbrand. “This is not to say we weren’t safety conscious,” said Hilderbrand. “Duke is a high- profile program and we had no classes the next day. I remember the student line going from Littlejohn Coliseum down the hill to the football stadium, up the street going towards Fike Field House, going pass Howard’s rock and all the way to gate one of the football stadium. “I also recall how orderly the students were that night, and they understood our predicament. With that said, all the fans in general understood that we were going to have a large crowd and it was going to be packed and crowded. We started letting students sit in the aisles, one per step. We were in constant contact with then Athletic Director Bill McLellan and the Fire Marshall and kept them informed of the situation,” said Hilderbrand. “We did not turn any students away. The decision was made in cooperation with the appropriate officials to let all the students in that wanted to come to the game. We did not oversell the seats, we simply had more students that night and it seemed as if all the Clemson students wanted to come to the big game—and they did. We didn’t have any complaints from the large crowd that night. Although we changed our policy on the number of people that were allowed in the coliseum later on, we had a good and a very cooperative crowd, and I think the packed house helped the Tigers that night,” said Hilderbrand. The record crowd had great expectations for the clash between the top-ranked Blue Devils and the Tigers and the two teams did not disappoint. Publicist Tim Bourret Helps the Team In regulation, Duke built its largest lead of the game, a five point advantage, 57-52 with 12:17 left as Taylor made two free throws. However, Clemson went on a 6-0 run and took a 58-57 lead over two minutes later when Nance hit a hook shot.Duke took a 66-62 advantage with 4:54 left when Banks hit a jumper from the baseline. Clemson’s Campbell made a layup 10 seconds later.Clemson then got the ball back and Gminski fouled Campbell sending him to the line for a 1x1 opportunity. He calmly made both with 4:26 remaining tying the score at 66-66. After this point there was no more scoring in regulation. Duke decided to hold the ball for a last shot as there was no shot clock in college basketball in those days. Duke called a timeout with :13 seconds left to set up the last second shot. Clemson then called a timeout after Duke took the floor so the Tigers could set up their defense. What happened in this timeout helped send the game into overtime thanks to longtime Athletic Communications Director Tim Bourret. “I'm from Hartford, Conn. and during the Christmas break I saw Duke play at Providence,” explained Bourret. “Duke was in the same situation at that particular time, they needed a bucket at the end of the game and what they did was to let Chip Engelland throw the inbound pass to Gminski and the defense collapsed on him and he would get the ball back to an open Chip Engelland, who was a great shooter. It worked perfectly for them in the Providence game. “I was not working for the Clemson radio network that season and I saw Engelland check into the game,” said Bourret. “I immediately went to the Clemson bench and told Tiger Assistant Coach Dwight Rainey to have someone guard Engelland and stay with him. He was going to inbound the ball to Gminiski and he would get a quick pass back to Engelland and he would have an open shot. When Engelland inbounded the ball from midcourt, he threw the ball to Gminiski. “Gminski threw the ball back to Engelland, but he was being guarded closely by a Tiger defender and he didn’t get the open shot like he wanted and he ended up heaving a desperation attempt that missed and the game went into overtime. So much of the time whoever inbounds the ball gets forgotten about and is left wide open. I was glad I could contribute and do my part for Clemson that night.” The Overtime Period In the overtime period, the Tigers gained the upper hand then put on a free throw shooting clinic to gain the victory. After a Campbell layup and two free throws by Banks of Duke, Clemson got the lead for good when Billy Williams hit a 15-footer. After a Duke miss, Bobby Conrad hit two free throws to put the Tigers up 72-68. Duke fought back, pulling to within two on two occasions, but the Tigers free throw shooters were near perfect down the stretch. Clemson made 15 of 17 free throws in the overtime period. The Tigers upset number-one ranked Duke 87-82 giving the Tigers their first victory over a number-one ranked team. “We knew we had to hit our free throws down the stretch,” said Bobby Conrad. “We didn’t do that in an earlier loss to Oregon State when we were in the same position. Tonight, all of the guys did a great job at the line and we were able to keep the upper hand,” said Conrad after the win. For the game, Campbell paced the Tigers with 23 points and seven rebounds. Williams had 19 points and seven assists. Larry Nance had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Bobby Conrad finished with 10 points including being 8-8 from the free throw line in the overtime period. Banks, who scored 31 points, and Gminski who added 30 points led Duke. It was one of many special games for the Tigers that season. Clemson lost to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight and this 1979-80 team is consider by many to be one of the best, if not the best in Clemson history. The “big win before the large crowd” will always be a Clemson classic.
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110%er [5014]
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I have been corrected it was the 1980-1981 season
Feb 10, 2022, 2:41 PM
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I Posted the right score and game, but was not sure how high in the top 5 they were ranked. Thank you for the "sobering" piece of information.
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Re: February 25 1981 Duke Littlejohn Coliseum • Clemson, SC W 54–52
Feb 10, 2022, 4:11 PM
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Nope, biggest win was Feb. 28,1990 when we beat Duke to clinch the Regular Season ACC Championship. I still have my ticket stub.
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Re: February 25 1981 Duke Littlejohn Coliseum • Clemson, SC W 54–52
Feb 10, 2022, 4:20 PM
[ in reply to Re: February 25 1981 Duke Littlejohn Coliseum • Clemson, SC W 54–52 ] |
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Great game in 1980. There was no TV for it even though both teams were ranked. I still remember the late great Jim Phillips loudly proclaiming "and Moose Campbell with a slam dunk!" Clemson was undefeated that year at home which included a big win over a top 5 UNC team and a double digit win over Sampson and the Cavs.
Message was edited by: raider12®
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CU Guru [1966]
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Virginia game at home
Feb 10, 2022, 6:02 PM
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I believe it was this particular year. Sampson turnaround on the baseline Nance blocked it off the wall. It was incredible
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CU Guru [1966]
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Noel Loban
Feb 10, 2022, 6:00 PM
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Wrestler. National Champion
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