University of New Haven athletics photo

Liberatore, at left, with coach Don Ormrod and Dick Jackson

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Gary Liberatore, at left above, was already a near-flawless shooter when he arrived at New Haven College (now the University of New Haven) in 1962. Over the next four years, he developed into one of the purest scorers New England has ever seen.

It was no coincidence one of his influences at New Haven was Frank “Porky” Vieira, an assistant basketball coach to Don Ormrod at the time. Vieira, just a few years removed from his days as a scoring machine at Quinnipiac, helped harness Liberatore’s knack for scoring.

Liberatore scored 3,176 career points, a school and New England record.

Read Chip Malafronte's complete story.

Perhaps they were too young to realize they were not supposed to end the championship reign of Division II women’s basketball powerhouse Cal Poly Pomona or simply too talented to be denied their date with destiny.

Buoyed by precocious sophomores Joy Jeter and Charlene Taylor, both of whom hailed from the athletic hotbed of Beaver Falls, Pa., and still rank No. 1 and 2 on New Haven’s career scoring list, the Chargers capped a remarkable season with a 77-75 win over the two-time defending national champions in the 1987 national title game.

The victory was the 28th straight for New Haven and gave the program its one and only national title.

Read Jim Fuller's complete story.