as player-coach for a few games until Jim Weaver took over for the rest of the campaign. The team's already dreadful attendance dropped even further. Average attendance was officially reported as 1,147, the worst in the league. However, it was almost certainly lower than that; many observers reported seeing "crowds" in double digits. According to most reliable sources, the Mavericks padded the gate for most of the early-season games to make the attendance figures look more respectable than they actually were. As the season wore on, however, the Mavericks were less willing to embellish their attendance. During the last three months of the season, they attracted well under 400 fans per game. Not surprisingly, the Mavericks were wretched on the court, finishing with a record of 23–55, second-worst in the league. However, the season was not without individual highlights. Willie Somerset again played in the ABA All Star Game. The Houston Mavericks played their final game on April 2, 1969 before only 89 fans (announced attendance), defeating the New York Nets 149–132. The 149 points was an all-time high for the Mavericks; the 89 fans was an all-time low. Another notable mark during the season was the Mavericks hitting 43 consecutive free throws. The streak began with 7 straight in a double overtime victory over the Minnesota Pipers on January 16, 1969. The next night on the road against the New York Nets the Mavericks went 36 of 36 from the line. The streak ended with the team's first free throw against the Kentucky Colonels on January 18, 1969. The free throw streak and mark for a single game remain to this day as unbroken professional basketball records. Aftermath During the 1968–69 season, the league sold the team to a group led by Jim Gardner, who intended to move the team to North Carolina. However, he agreed to finish the season in Houston. Shortly after the season ended, Gardner moved the team to North Carolina as the Carolina Cougars. After a few years in North Carolina the team moved to St. Louis and competed as the Spirits of St. Louis. After the 1975–76 season, the Spirits announced that the franchise would move to Salt Lake City to play as the Utah Rockies, but the ABA–NBA merger did not include the Spirits/Rockies or the Kentucky Colonels and the franchises disbanded, its players put into a dispersal draft. Houston would have a