Flagg Late Steals Hold off 1971 Fordham Basketball, 75-69

 Charlie Yelverton, who averaged an amazing 23 points and 12 rebounds a game at only 6'2" for Fordham before moving to star shooting guard in the Italian professional leagues as a shooting guard, was unstoppable in matching Cooper Flagg's 24 points.

The day after 2025 national champ was stunned by Jimmy Valvano's 1980 Iona Cinderella team, Flagg came up with two late steals and breakaway baskets to hold off 1971 Fordham for a 75-69 win to advance to the tournaments Elite 8. Duke could now get an ACC Elite 8 game against Valvano's other Cinderella team - 1983 NC State, unless the Wolfpack falls to the Dunk City team from Florida Gulf Coast.

Outside of Yelverton, the all-NBA lineup of Duke used their huge size advantage (6'10 to 6'2 average) and all-NBA starting five to hold even the other future NBA Fordham player Ken Charles in check, as Flagg's 11 rebounds gave Duke a 33-24 edge and his 11 field goals give them a 32-25 edge. However, Fordham kept it to 66-63 with 4:30 to go by drawing 21 fouls and hitting 17 of 20 free throws.

With Fordham coming down with a chance to tie, Flagg stepped in front of a pass and laid it in at the other end of the break to make it 68-63. After Yelverton scored to make it 68-65, Flagg stole it against and laid it in for a 70-65 lead with 2:44 (5 possessions) to play.

Both Duke guards came up with offensive rebounds to help secure the win, as Tyrese Proctor grabbed a miss and was fouled - hitting 1 of 2 to keep it a two possession game at 71-67. Then later Kon Knueppel did the same with 3 possessions (1:30 to play) and put it in to stretch the lead to 75-67, and Duke won 75-69.

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Pos	Fordham 1971	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Season stats, ht,nba
1-PG	John Burik	5	1	1	0	0	2	6	0	1	5'11, 9.5 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 5.6 Ast
2-SG	Bill Mainor	9	1	2	2	2	3	1	0	2	6'1, 14.1 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 1.9 Ast
3-SG	Ken Charles	8	0	2	4	4	5	2	1	1	NBA-6'3, 15.4 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 2.1 Ast
4-PF	Bart Woytowicz	5	0	2	1	2	3	0	1	3	6'6, 10.2 Pts, 6.9 Reb, 1.2 Ast
5-C	Charlie Yelverton	24	0	10	4	4	5	1	3	2	NBA-6'2, 23.3 Pts, 12.0 Reb, 1.8 Ast
Pos	Bench	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Pts, Reb,Ast,Ht,pro?
1-PG	Tom Pipich	6	0	1	4	4	1	0	0	1	6'1, 2.4 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.7 Ast
2-SG	P.J. Carlesimo	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'1, 0.2 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.7 Ast
3-SG	Bob Larbes	3	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	1	6'5, 1.8 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.3 Ast
4-PF	George Zambetti	3	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	1	6'5, 6.0 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 1.0 Ast
5-C	Tom Sullivan	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'4, 4.7 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 1.1 Ast
	16 Turnovers	69	2	23	17	20	24	10	5	14
Pos	Duke 2025	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Pts, Reb,Ast,Ht,pro?
1-PG	Kon Knueppel	12	2	3	0	0	5	2	0	2	NBA-6'7, 14.4 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 2.7 Ast
2-SG	Tyrese Proctor	8	1	2	1	2	4	1	0	2	NBA-6'5, 12.4 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.2 Ast
3-SG	Sion James	4	0	2	0	0	3	0	0	3	NBA-6'5, 8.6 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 2.9 Ast
4-PF	Cooper Flagg	24	0	11	2	2	6	4	2	2	NBA-6'9, 19.2 Pts, 7.5 Reb, 4.2 Ast
5-C	Khaman Maluach	9	1	3	0	0	7	0	3	3	NBA-7'2, 8.6 Pts, 6.6 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Pos	Bench	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Pts, Reb,Ast,Ht,pro?
1-PG	Caleb Foster	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	6'5, 4.9 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 1.4 Ast
2-SG	Isaiah Evans	5	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'6, 6.8 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.5 Ast
3-SG	Maliq Brown	3	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	2	6'8, 2.5 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 1.5 Ast
4-PF	Mason Gillis	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	6'6, 4.1 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 0.8 Ast
5-C	Patrick Ngongba	6	0	2	2	2	4	0	0	2	6'11, 3.9 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 0.8 Ast
	17 Turnovers	75	5	27	6	7	33	7	5	21