Boston University - HUB Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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VARSITY BASKETBALL Collard Conch, DeMerritt '42, Cassidy '42, Purbeck '42, 1KIcCuddy '42, Hutchings '42, Leighton '42, Porshin '40 Mgr. Thomas '42, Williams '42, King '40, Rotinnn '40 Capt., Olson '40, Pnutano '41, Schenk '41 COACH COLLARD called his men out for practice this winter even before the football season had ended, and although many of the players were still with the grid- iron team enjoying the Florida. sunshine at Tampa, much was accomplished. Looking over his squad, there was some excellent veteran material in Captain Jack Rotman, John King, Norman Alpert, and George Pantano, while sophomores fairly flooded the B. U. gym when the football season closed. As had been the case in football, the varsity newcomers were either going to break or make this varsity team and from tl1e outcome of the first game it appeared to be the latter. After Coach hlerrel Collard had brought Boston University its best season ever a year ago, it was good to see the court Terriers start the season off with a thrilling 40-39 victory over Harvard at the Crimson gym in Cambridge on Dec. 16, just before the Christmas recess. The final outcome of this battle gave B. U. undergraduates added hope that the Scarlet and VVhite hoop teams would no longer go through 13 and 14- game campaigns showing just. three or four victories as had been the case altogether too frequently in the past. Jim lNIcCuddy, a sophomore who played the left forward position, proved to be the hero of the initial game when he sank a foul shot with 30 seconds left to play to give his team a. one point. margin of victory. Just a few seconds previously, lvalter VVilliams, sophomore center whom we heard so much about on t.he gridiron last fall, had knotted the score. VVith several weeks of rest behind them, the basket- eers opened their home season by meeting the Brown Bruins at the B. U. gym, Jan. 6. The victory over Har- vard gave the Collard quintet added confidence in it- self, perhaps too much, for the final score read 42-29 in 308 the visiting tean1's favor. The Brown five was rolling on all eight cylinders this winter having gone through five encounters without a defeat. The Bruins played a new kind of basketball which called for set shots and expert passing, the guards doing most of the shooting. On Jan. 10 the Terriers drifted into tl1e north country of Durham, N. H. to meet the State University's quin- tet. At the start, two young gentlemen of New Hamp- shire named Harold Monica and Herbie Adams put the Wildcats out in front. Captain Rotman and VVee VVillie VVilliams of B. U. couldn't stand by and see such things going on, however, and by halftime these two lads had cut the lead to 19-18. Then in the second half the Scarlet and VVhite saw red and brushing the Cats aside, rolled up enough points for a 41-35 victory. Three days later the Terriers met Tufts, and put on an identical show as against Harvard, winning by a 44-43 score largely through the efforts of Walter Wil- liams, who sank two foul shots in the last seconds of the game. There wasn't a great deal of action in the first half and Tufts was leading at half-time 16-14. In the second half a regular fast and furious, nip-and-tuck battle ensued with B. U. taking the lead only to fall back again. Williams was then allowed two shots, and the rest is history neatly tucked away in Terrier sports annals. VVith three victories and one defeat to its credit, Boston University's basketball team went to post, an odds on favorite to defeat Worcester Polytech Institute on the Alumni Gymnasium court at Wforcester, Jan. 20, but the Engineers were first across the finish line with B. U. trailing a good nine lengths. The final score was 57-48 with the Terriers showing nothing but their good sportsmanship. Coach Pete Bigler had his quintet in 1

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Conaty saw considerable action at the shortfield last spring but sophomore Thomas, who has already re- ceived letters in football and basketball, will provide sparkling competition. He was probably the best freshman prospect on the yearling nine last season and it is not unlikely that he will replace both Cummings and Conaty at shortstop this season. At third base Charlie Blood will probably win out over the other can- didates seeking that post. Blood substituted for ' 'Yama Quinn in several tilts last year when the ineligible cap- tain-elect was moved over to shortstop. Blood will re- ceive his keenest competition from Walt Carroll, last year's Pup third sacker. There seems to be plenty of promising ma- terial to form a strong outfield trio on the Ter- rier nine. Among the outer-gardeners upon whom Coach Mel Col- lard is depending are John DiNubla, Bob Hall, VARSITY BASEBALL who won two and dropped two last year, is the outstand- ing returning hurler. In four games last spring he de- feated Boston College and New Hampshire but was shelled twice by Harvard batters. The Crimson nine won the opener 44 to 1, although Braun allowed only 'five hits. The Jawns took the second tilt in which he pitched, 5 to 3. Veterans Charlie Red Hoar and Clement Mackay will aid Braun in carrying the hurling burden. Newcomers who have looked good in practice are Bill DeMerritt, Dan Lieberman, and Larry Harris. With Captain-elect Johnny Quinn ineligible, the Terrier baseball squad is without a field leader. Coach Mel Collard intends to have members of the diamond team elect a captain for each of the fifteen con- tests since there are so ff, many seniors eligible for l a ? the honor. Four games have been dropped from last year's schedule which contained fourteen opponents. The s Walt Williams, and Bud Hines. Hines and Di- Nubla are veterans from last year and if Johnny Chambers is returned to the outfield, Collard will have three veteran field- ers ready to step out on the diamond. Hall and Williams should give this trio plenty of fight be- fore any of them clinches a regular outfield berth. Several clever receivers are ready to step into the first-string catcher's post vacated by Johnny Walker, regular backstop for the Scarlet and White baseball squad for three years. Johnny O'Connell is the most experienced of the group and will probably open the season as varsity catcher against the Brown Bears on April 13. O'Connell re- ceived catching experience last year when he replaced Walker and caught the last half of the schedule when Johnny was injured. Other promising candidates shooting for the catcher's job are Jim McCuddy, trans- fer from Dartmouth who has shaped up very well in the opinion of Collardg Duncan McLennon, veteran under- study from last year, and Morrie Levine another trans- fer, have both looked mighty good in practice. Graduation of three veteran hurlers, Captain Bob Leahy, Dave Abrams, and Stan Stocklosa somewhat depleted the group of experienced pitchers Coach Col- lard could count on. With the additional losses of Gus Kieronski, Mel Sidmore, Johnny Wedemeyer, the hurl- ing staff has been practically shattered. Carl Braun, l Uncorking the scrrewball 307 quartet of baseball squads which the Ter- riers will not meet this spring is Colby, Worcest- er Polytechnical Insti- tute, New Hampshire, and Springfield. In the present line-up five new teams have been carded for the '40 diamond nine. New squads which the Scarlet and White bats- men play this season are Brown, Middlebury, Vermont, Norwich, and Wesleyan. The team will go north on a four-day trip to play Middlebury on April 26, Vermont at Burlington on April 27, and Norwich University at Northfield on April 29. The Terrier nine will play six of its Bfteen games at Nickerson Field. Ed. Note: Because the State's aqueduct project through Nickerson Field at Weston had made it im- possible for the varsity squad to get any outdoor prac- tice, the athletic department has been forced to cancel the opening games of the season. Tilts with Brown, Rhode Island State, and Tufts which were carded for April 13, 16, and 17 respectively have been indefinitely postponed. Athletic authorities of the University doubt whether it will be possible to ply these games later in the season. At the present writing Coach Mel Collard is desperately hoping that he can take the squad out to Riverside for its first outdoor practice Monday, April 15. But even this will give the B.U. nine only five days before the contest with B.C. on April 20. We mustn't be surprised if B.C. smears us. I

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Ready, aim., shoot! excellent shape to meet the invaders and the main question tha.t developed was Whether the Terriers could stop this Long John Wells, six-foot five-inch center. They didn't, even though sophomore star Walter VVil- liams contributed eleven points while playing opposite this tall lad. Using exactly six men to the Terriers' ten, the Biglermen wore the Collardmen out, even Captain Jackie Rotman, whose defensive work was true to its usual brilliancy, having to retire before the game ended. Springfield College came to the B. U. gym on the night of Feb. 3, directly following the mid-year examin- ations. All Coach Mel Collard's men had Weathered the ordeal, but they certainly must have been burning the oil long past midnight for days before, because they looked half asleep on the court. The result: Springfield 493 B. U. 40. The basketeers were never in the game and it was a good thing the undergraduate could skip along to the Arena next door to see how it should be done when B. U. tackled the Vvest Point Cadets on the ice. At least it t.ook away that sour taste of watching too many losers. It was a little lad called Bob Mortensen of the Gymnasts who took home the honors at the gym, running up a total of 18 points for the fray, and had the Collardmen wishing he had stayed in Springfield. The score at half-time was Q5-17 in the visitors' favor, naturally, and although B. U. put on a rally in the next half, as they usually do, they fell short of tying the game. The B. U. quintet now possessed three victories against three losses. The prospects for the next game against Colby, at Waterville, were particularly bright, but B. U. went down to defeat, 47-36. One thing that the Collardmen forgot to heed was the freshman eligibility rule of Colby. The VVhite Mules have a scho- lastic ruling which says in effect that any freshman who VARSITY BASKETBALL is successful in academic pursuits in the first semester is eligible for varsity competition the second semester. This meant that B. U. was facing a strengthened Mule team. The first half ended with 12 points for Colby and 10 for B. U. The game was tight in spots, especially for a second or two in the second half when the Terriers put on their customary rally only to fade again. Captain Rotman led the B. U. scoring with 9 points. The next night Clark came to B. U. Coach Collard was desperately trying to snap his boys out of their slump. He shifted his starting team a bit. A little peeved, he sent subs in to take the place of veterans. Neverthe- less, Clark held the upper hand. Clark is another Uni- versity that holds one of those freshman eligibility rules like Colby's, and B. U.'s mistake was to schedule such games in the second semester when freshman standouts are eligible for varsity competition. It's true the VVorcester school lost its ace Ziggy Strzelecki and another star, Tom Tyborowski, through ineligibility which tended to weaken the visitors, as Ziggy scored 160 points in seven games for the highest individual scoring average in New England. But freshman stars were added to the team and offset the loss of these two players. The game was fairly fast with more color on the part of Clark. Everybody from VVorcester seemed to be in the gym, and B. U.'s cheering sounded like a whisper contrasted with that of their opponent's followers. The final score showed 48 points for Clark and 44 for B. U. Clark scored the winning two baskets in the last minute of play. It was a freshman, Lou Shopes, who tied the score at 44-all, and another yearling, Ray Manarel, put in another basket that proved enough for victory. We ought to break our losing streak, said Coach Mel Collard before the Bates game, but apparently the Hoop leader Rotman I3091