American University - Talon / Aucola Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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25 Bob Bush 15 Pete DeHaven 31 Bill Demharter 13 Steve Garrett 23 Johnny Lloyd 22 Lenny Lockhart 32 Bill Mann 20 Jim Neurohr 1 2 Art Perry 30 Bob Rosenfeld 21 Wilbur Thomas 10 Bill Ulbin 24 Kermit Washington 14 Paul Wholey

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The American University Bas- ketball Team enioyed the most successful season ot its history, finishing with a 21-5 record and a first time bid to the NIT. From the win over Rider Col- lege in Trenton, NJ. to the loss to Louisville at Madison Square Garden, the season was fantas- tic. An early season win over St. John ' s of New York sent happy students home for vacation. While at home we read of tournament victories in the Roanoke Classic in Virginia, over the defending small col- lege champion Roanoke and our win in the Presidential Classic over George Washing- ton University. Then a strange mid-season slump occurred. We lost three of eight games, but still had a glamorous 14-4 record. First St. Joseph ' s, then surprisingly GW and Temple, leaving the still hopeful Eagles in jeopardy of losing the coveted NIT bid. But the team came through. Washington and Thomas were phenomenal. Wilbur scored 34 points against King ' s College and 33 points against Towson State averaging 23.9 over the last seven games. Kermit aver- aged 23.1 points and 21.8 rebounds. In a never to be for- gotten performance he scored 40 points, 26 rebounds, and 8 blocked shots against George- town in his final home game at Fort Myer. The rest of the players were strongly supportive in both their playing ability and their spirit. Forward Pete DeHaven, much maligned during a shooting slump, shot 50% down the stretch, scoring 22 key points in a big win over LaSalle. He played the same strong defense that held St. John ' s All-American Bill Schaeffer to four points in a half. lohnnyLloyd, recovering from sitting out a year, did it all against Duquesne, scoring 29 points. He averaged 18.3 points over the last six games, lunior guard Steve G arrett scored 39 points in the seven games and had as many assists, while continuing to play his strong overall floor game. The bench contributed in key spots. Bill Mann had 12 points against Duquesne and 8 points against LaSalle. )im Neurohr, the high scorer against West Chester, made 14 points. Bill Ulbin started against Fairleigh Dickinson and had key steals and rebounds that aided the victory. Bob Rosenfeld and Bill Demharter also added needed depth. Demharter stood out against Gettysburg with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Rosy made eight points against Hofstra. Lenny Lock- hart, Art Perry and Paul Wholey also chipped in at times to aid the cause. Then the NIT came and, de- spite the loss to Louisville, Ker- mit showed why he was an All-American making 29 points, while Wilbur made 26. Coach Tom Young ' s charges did well for themselves and they gave a lot of us more en- joyment than perhaps we thought possible at AU. The screaming thousands at Fort Myer, the standing ovations in the Tavern, the anxiety while waiting for the NIT bid, and then the 2200 tickets sold at AU alone, the agony of falling 22 points behind Louisville in the first half, and the ecstasy of pulling within five in the sec- ond. All these things were AU Basketball in the memorable 1972-73 season.