Sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

On March 2, 1962, 14 year-olds Larry Neff, Bruce Everett and a bunch of their friends went to an NBA game at the Hershey Sports Arena between the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia Warriors.

It would be a night like no other in NBA history.

On that night, Warriors’ star player Wilt Chamberlain would score 100 points - a league record that has never since been broken.

No hype and no type

Earlier this month - on the 59th anniversary of that historic night - Neff, a freelance photographer with the Times News for the past 46 years, recalled the event that began with a trip from the Tamaqua YMCA.

“A bunch of us were hanging out at the YMCA playing shuffleboard when Paul Dotson, the director asked if we wanted to go to Hershey to see the Warriors’ game,” he said.

About eight or nine of the boys were taken to the arena by Dotson, sports enthusiast Howie Miller, and Tamaqua teacher Bob Boltz.

The late-season game was touted as nothing special. The Warriors had locked down second place in their division and the Knicks were in last place and playing out the string. The New York press didn’t even send reporters to the game, so no typewriter account of what happened came from the visiting side.

The Hershey arena, located 85 miles from Philadelphia, was being used that night as an alternate location from the normal Warriors home game. At the time, the arena was mainly used as an ice hockey rink and had a leaking roof.

“It was a weeknight game, too,” said Everett. “We had nosebleed seats behind the scoreboard, but with so many empty seats down by the court, we ended up moving there when we saw they were not taken.”

Sensing something special

Of course, no one who saw the game expected that Chamberlain would score 100 points. Neff - who followed Wilt the Stilt’s career and later saw him play in Washington, Detroit, and Houston - pointed to one ironic accomplishment that helped Chamberlain get to the century mark.

“Wilt was the worst free throw shooter in NBA history, but that night he scored 28 of his points on 32 attempts from the free-throw line.”

“And they were 28 in a row,” said Everett.

As Chamberlain continued to score more points, the half-filled arena began to buzz. He had 41 points at the half, and in the Warrior locker room the decision was made to get the ball to him each time they had possession.

“We started to think something special was happening,” Neff recalled. “When we were sitting way up top, the arena had a dome-type ceiling and every time Wilt scored, my friend, Ed Tomchick, who was a tall kid, would jump up and hit his head on the ceiling. We were applauding for Wilt, and laughing at Ed the same time.”

Chamberlain, also known as “The Big Dipper,” reached 69 points by the end of the third period. The Knicks decided to foul the other Warrior players so that Chamberlain wouldn’t score 100 points. To counter, the Warriors intentionally fouled the Knicks to stop the game and give their 7-1 center more opportunities.

The outcome and the aftermath

“There’s some controversy that the Knicks played a lot of substitutes in the fourth period to give Wilt more chances to score, but I don’t buy it,” said Everett, who grew up in Tamaqua and now winters in Florida.

“I remember that state troopers came into the arena, and I didn’t know if this was normal procedure,” said Neff. “They locked arms and surrounded the court.”

With 48 seconds left in the game, and with the public address announcement that Chamberlain had 98 points, he took a pass and missed a shot, then missed another, before he got another look and netted his 100th point. At that moment, the crowd rushed the court and broke through the trooper barricade to try to get to Chamberlain.

“There were horns blowing and confetti falling everywhere,” said Neff. “The place went berserk. It was a mad house.”

“Some writers have written the game was never finished after the crowd rushed the court,” said Everett, “but that’s not true. They cleared the court and we saw it played to the end.”

Seven NBA records were set in the game:

• Most points by a player (100).

• Most combined points by two teams (the Warriors won the game, 169-147).

• Most free throws made by a player in a game (28).

• Most shots taken (63).

• Most field goals made (36).

• Most points scored in a period by a single player (31).

• Most points scored in a half by a single player (59).

After the game, when asked why he thought he played with so much energy, Chamberlain admitted to running off a hangover he had while partying the night before until 6 a.m. the following morning.

Everett couldn’t believe that Chamberlain was not the league MVP that year.

“He averaged 50.4 points and 25 rebounds a game,” he said.

Eye witnesses

There is no videotape of the game, and only an audio recording of the final period still remains from 59 years ago.

Neff, who has worked as a photojournalist with some prominent names in the sports world during his career - including Dick Vermeil, George Foreman, Muhammed Ali, and Mario Andretti - has one regret about what he saw that day when he was just 14.

“I didn’t bring a camera,” he said with a laugh.

Everett can still see the game played inside his mind.

“I saw history being made,” he said, “And I’m thankful to the guys who took us there.”

Neff and Everett both said they will never forget the night they witnessed an individual performance that is heralded as one of the greatest moments in all of sports history.