QUINCY (WGEM) - Little did the Quincy College basketball team know the lightning quick guard they were about to encounter would someday become a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer.
Oh, they were aware Texas-El Paso’s Nate Archibald was a 6-foot scoring machine that couldn’t be replicated in practice. Then, the Hawks got a full-scale glimpse of Archibald in action.
On Dec. 6, 1969 -- 56 years ago -- Quincy fell 87-55 at UTEP as Archibald poured in 28 points on 11 field goals and six free throws.
“Everything about Archibald was accurate,” said Quincy guard Dave Rothery, a sophomore on the Hawks who was one of two guards assigned to guard Archibald. “He was lightning quick, just a blaze, smooth as silk.”
Media coverage in Quincy included a story in the Quincy Herald-Whig that inferred Rothery and teammate Sam Ally didn’t have much luck guarding Archibald, who scored numerous baskets from what now would be 3-point range.
“That would be accurate,” said Rothery with a chuckle.
In fact, 55 fouls were called on both teams as the Hawks battled the much bigger Miners. Rothery and Ally both fouled out with the Hawks whistled for 25 team fouls.
Quincy was outrebounded 52-29. Paul Jackstadt led the Hawks with 16 points, Don Wente added 15 points and eight rebounds and Mike Brady added 12 points.
“They were huge,” said Rothery, a 1972 graduate who played four years for the Hawks (freshmen were eligible in NAIA). “Big and physical, they had a big guy named Dick Gibbs who played for the Bullets in the 1974 NBA Finals when they got swept by Rick Barry and the Warriors.”
UTEP already had a national reputation as the Miners (then Texas Western College) won the 1966 NCAA championship with Coach Don Haskins team making history by defeating Kentucky 72-65. UTEP featured the first all-Black starting lineup in NCAA championship history, a pivotal moment in sports and civil rights, and famously depicted in the movie “Glory Road.”
Meanwhile, Quincy was an NAIA school on a two-game western trip that included a victory at Western New Mexico the night before.
Facing Archibald meant the Hawks were facing a future NBA Hall of Famer to open the season for the second time in three years. On Dec. 2, 1967, the Hawks lost at St. Bonaventure 103-55 as future NBA star and HOFer Bob Lanier made his collegiate debut.
As far as Archibald, he spent 14 years in the NBA playing for the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings and Boston Celtics where he averaged 18.8 points and 7.4 assists per game. He was a member of Boston’s 1981 championship team.
Archibald was a six-time NBA All-Star (1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982), NBA All-Star Game MVP (1981), three-time All-NBA First Team and led league in scoring and assists in 1973.
Actually, guarding Archibald was easy compared to the Hawks getting to the southwest part of the country.
“It was harrowing trip,” Rothery recalled. “We took a bus to Lambert Field in St. Louis then took a DC-3 to New Mexico. It was a rickety old plane.
“Instead of flying over top of the Rocky Mountains, we would fly between the mountain peaks. Then when we were coming home we had to stop in Springfield, Missouri, because there were more plane issues and they had to send a new plane to get us home.”
While in El Paso, the team went across the border to visit Mexico.
“That was interesting,” Rothery said.
After graduating, Rothery spent a long career as an air traffic controller and in private business. Now retired at age 76 and living in West St. Louis County, Rothery stays active -- playing basketball.
“I’ve got Parkinson’s but I still play basketball four times a week,” Rothery said.
In fact, he still plays in five-on-five tournaments in Florida, teaming up with former University of Missouri star John Brown to win several championships.
“I can still shoot a 3,” Rothery said with a chuckle.
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