The feat, a collegiate record, came in 1954 in South Carolina. As a pro, he missed a shot that would have given the Los Angeles Lakers a championship.
All eyes were on Frank Selvy when his basketball team from Furman University took on a fellow South Carolina school, Newberry College, on Feb. 13, 1954.
Selvy, a 6-foot-3 guard, was the top scorer in college basketball for a second season, and his family and neighbors made the 250-mile journey from Kentucky to watch him play, joining 4,000 others in the stands in Greenville, S.C., home of Furman’s Paladins, for “Frank Selvy Night.” It would be the first college basketball game televised live in South Carolina.
A mismatch loomed. Furman was a Division I team, while Newberry, a small college about 65 miles southeast of Greenville, was Division II, so Furman’s coach figured it was a perfect time to showcase Selvy’s jump shots and hooks. He instructed the team to set Selvy up for a shot whenever it had the ball.
Selvy, who was nearing the end of his college career, did not disappoint. He scored a remarkable 100 points against Newberry, setting a single-game record for a Division I player.
He died on Tuesday at his home in Simpsonville, S.C., in Greenville County, in the northwest part of the state, according to an announcement by Furman. He was 91.
Selvy was an All-American in college and became a two-time All-Star guard in the National Basketball Association, but he was probably remembered most for that winter night in 1954. In an era before the 3-point shot, Selvy scored 41 field goals on 66 shots together with 18 free throws.
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Source: Basketball - nytimes.com
