Mar. 23, 1963 - Syracuse held Oscar Robertson to only 16 points tonight, but the Nats still had to come from behind in the last 5 minutes to defeat the Cincinnati Royals, 121-117, in the third game of their Eastern division NBA playoff series. Before a standing room only crowd of 8.087 in Syracuse War Memorial Auditorium, the Nats rallied behind Hal Greer, a 30-point scorer, to make up a 7-point disadvantage in the final 4-and-a-half minutes. The win gave the Nats a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-5 series, which now shifts to Cincinnati for a fourth game Sunday night. Despite Robertson's modest point total, Jack Twyman and Wayne Embry (pictured #15) each tallied 24 to help keep the Royals in the game. While Greer was the key man down the stretch, Lee Shaffer, with 34 points, led Syracuse into a 65-53 lead at the half that didn't hold up but was important. In getting back into the game, both Robertson and Wayne Embry picked up five fouls, and Embry eventually fouled out. For the first time in the series, the Royals lost the rebounding advantage, and they only recorded 90 shots -- 14 fewer than the Nats. In addition, they committed several costly turnovers down the stretch.
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