University of North Carolina Athletics
On This Day in Carolina History
June 21, 1999 | General
1957 -- Michigan State Falls in Triple Overtime
North Carolina ran its record to 31-0 with a 74-70 triple-overtime victory over Michigan State in the NCAA semi-finals at Kansas City.
Lennie Rosenbluth scored 31 points and made three key plays in the third extra period to help secure the victory and send the Tar Heels into the national championship game. He opened the third overtime with a steal and layup to give Carolina a 68-66 lead. Then after Jack Quiggle tied the score for the Spartans, Rosenbluth put UNC ahead to stay with a long jumper.
Tommy Kearns added a pair of free throws for a 72-68 advantage. Another Rosenbluth steal led to a layup for Bob Young with just 1:33 left to finally wrap up the win.
Bob Cunningham, who did a great defensive job on MSU All-America Johnny Green, added 19 points and Pete Brennan had 14 for Carolina. Quiggle led the Spartans with 20, while Green had only 11.
The game was tied, 58-58, at the end of regulation with neither team scoring in the final 1:57 of play. Then in the first overtime, a layup by Quiggle gave Michigan State a 64-62 lead with 55 seconds left. Green had a chance to win the game with 11 seconds to go, but missed a free throw opportunity. Brennans short jumper with three seconds left forced a second overtime.
Rosenbluths jumper with 3:46 on the clock accounted for Carolinas only points of the second period. That almost was enough, but a tip-in by Green with 55 seconds to go finally tied the score again.
That set the stage for Rosenbluths final heroics.
