Morton grad Rich Nemcek speaks to Larry Bird. Not every day but the NBA legend is only a phone call away.

They were Indiana State teammates during that 1978-79 "Dream Season" when their Sycamores lost to Magic Johnson and Michigan State in the national title game, 75-64, at the Special Events Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bird was a senior, Nemcek a junior reserve who barely averaged two points a game.

And guess who played a key role in perhaps ISU's biggest win of the regular season?

"We played a game at New Mexico State and I fouled out, Carl Nicks fouled out and Bobby Heaton hit a shot at the buzzer to send it into overtime," Bird told The Times in a recent interview. "Right at the start of overtime, another guy fouled out, Rich got in there and he won the game for us.

"He hit a couple shots, made a couple plays. He was one of three guys on our bench who really didn't get to play much but that (win) kept us undefeated."

The Sycamores prevailed, 91-89, for their 20th straight win and eventually finished the season 33-1.

"I remember that night just like it was yesterday," Bird said. "They were a fun group of guys to play with. They had one goal in mind and that was to try to win as many games as possible."

Nemcek was inducted into the Hammond Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday night and recalled a brutal Missouri Valley Conference road trip that featured games at Texas Tech, New Mexico State and Wichita State.

"We were ranked No. 2 at the time and we could never get over the hump of being No. 1 because we were in such a small conference," Nemcek said. "New Mexico State was a tough place to play. We had gotten down by two points with seven seconds to go. I was in the game early but sitting at the end and we were watching all the people exit. They were shooting a free throw and we're going: 'This is it. Finally, our first loss.'

"But the guy missed the free throw, we got the rebound and my buddy Bob Heaton heaved it a little over halfcourt and banked it in. We saw all the people who had left the stadium filing back in. We won in overtime -- we never should have -- and I got the last rebound and held it out of bounds while I was getting beat up."

Nemcek said it was the one game where he felt he had really contributed.

"I told everybody it was like winning the lottery. I was in the right place at the right time and with the right guy," said Nemcek, a Geneva resident.

Bird and Nemcek still call the New Mexico State comeback a "catalyst" in ISU running the table.

"After that, it was like a buzzsaw," Nemcek said. "We would never allow a game to get that close again. We had survived that 'letdown' and after that, everything kinda clicked and fell into place."

Heaton wasn't finished.

"When we played Arkansas with Sidney Moncrief in the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati, Heaton threw up a left-handed half-jump hook that bounced and bounced and bounced and then went in to beat Arkansas," Nemcek said. "That was what propelled us into the Final Four, where we played DePaul and then Michigan State.

"Bob Heaton was our miracle guy."

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