Fordham University School of Business - Aries Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Cunningham shoots against Pascal. Cunningham hits again. DeGroat rebounds against Syracuse. Brady drives against Bill Chrystal. The Rams now returned to the Garden for the Holiday Festival to face Temple. 'Cunningham tried hard, hitting for 33, but it was not enough to' stop the Owls and their one man gang, Guy Rodgers, who, in addition to- scoring 30 points, was all over the floor, stealing, rebounding, setting up his mates. Mike Cashman chipped in with l7 for Fordham. ln the consolation games, the Rams beat Niagara and lost to St. John's. The first week of the new year found the Rams pitted against two of the top clubs in the East. Against Canisius, rated number 15 at that time, Fordham played very poorly and was beaten by i3 points. Returning home, Bach's boys were belted by Syracuse 93-76. The Orangemen broke the game wide open early in the first half and were never seriously threatened. At this point the season record stood at 7-7, However, in the second part of the season the cagers won nine of the last twelve to bring the season record to l6-lO. They started the streak with an easy win over Army and then came back to beat Connecticut 68-67 in a tremendous down-to-the-wire ball game. Jimmy Cunningham with 25 and John Brady with 20 led a second half surge which saw the Rams convert an l l-point halftime deficit into victory, The momentum of the spirited cagers was halted as they dropped a two- point decision to C. C. N. Y., but they bounced right back to knock off Georgetown 74-69. Cunningham hit for 32, but it was a little sophomore, Vinny Cox, starting his first game, who sparked the Rams. Paired with experi- enced Ed Bugniazet, Cox played a strong floor game, a quality in which the Rams had been sorely lacking. At this point, Buzzy Larkin took over for the hospitalized Johnny Bach and won two out of three. The first was a real squeaker, 69-68 in over- time over Villanova. Cunningham's 32 including I9 of 23 from the charity stripe, led the way to a 76-73 conquest of Niagara. Bill McCadney also sparkled, out-rebounding Boo Ellis and outscoring the Eagles' star 23 to l9. ln the next game the human pogo stick, Cal Ramsey of N.Y.U., was too COX in ffouble against the Redman. 226 McCadney shoots over Parenti's outstretched hands.

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Cunningham and McCadney eye the elusive ball. Coach Johnny Bach's boys opened the l956-57 campaign with an easy win over Toronto University, at the Fordham gym. Three nights later they played their first tough opponent and wound up on top, beating Maryland 68-62. Jim Cunningham gave an indication of what was to come as he poured through 27 points, followed by Soph John Brady with l6. The Rams then returned home and suffered their first defeat. With Yale's red-headed scoring twins John Lee and Larry Downs hitting for 28 and 24' points respectively, the Eli rallied from a 5-point half-time deficit to win 75-7O. Fordham had a poor night from the floor hitting only l8 field goals, and only good foul shooting kept them in the game. Columbia's 5' 9 wizard, Chet Forte, threw in 32 points in leading the Lions to a 99-84 conquest of Fordham. Five Rams his double figures but it was not enough to catch the Jet and his mates. Following these encounters with the boys from the lvy League, the Rams took a trip to New England and picked up easy wins over Rhode Island and Providence., Big Bill McCadney with 29 and Jim with 26 led the Rams to an 87-86 overtime win over Holy Cross in one of the season's most exciting games. l I lt was now tournament time and the Rose Hillers took on Miami of Ohio in the opening round of the Cincinnati'Tournament, and with Cunningham pouring in 3l , won 67-60. However, in the final against the U. of Cincinnati the Rams lost an early.lead and were defeated 73-67. and Parenti. Vin Cox drives between Seiden

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Cunningham drivesvfor two against St. John's. Soph John BVGCJY Hits iol' twv- much for the Rams. Ramsey scored 29 points and was the winner of 'the Maroon Quill Trophy. Cunningham hit for 25, including point No. l,OOO of his career, but it was not enough. The cagers celebrated Bach's return with a tremendous 83-77 win over St. John's. Bill McCadney with ZO and Jim with 26 were the big guns. Down at Philadelphia's Palestra the surging Rams were derailed by La Salle as Alonzo Lewis scored 3l. Returning home the Maroon knocked off the high flying pirates of Seton Hall, 76-75. Cunningham scored 28, one more than the sup- posed super star, portly Dick Gaines. In a tuneup for the big one with Manhattan, Fordham defeated Rutgers 74-64. Four men, led by Cunningham and Brady with 20 and i8 points respectively, hit double figures. Against the Jaspers the Rams played a great team game. With ten minutes to go in the game, the Rams held a slim one-point lead. At this point Cunningham hit for two buckets, and Captain Ron Kuehn hit with two sets to swell the lead to eight points, and the Jaspers were through for the night. A well-executed Fordham freeze ensued, sparked by a 60 second solo exhibition of expert dribbling and quick reflex action by Jim Cunningham. Jimmy was high man with 24, followed by Brady and McCadney with i8 and Bugniazet with iZ. The Manhattan game provided a fitting finale to the exciting and suc- cessful careers of graduating seniors Ed Bugniazet and Mike Cashman and Captain Ron Kuehn. This season saw Jim Cunningham take his place among thenall-time Ram greats. He scored 640 points for a 24,6 points per game average, eleventh best in the nation. He was named to the All-Met first team and received honorable mention on the AP All-American team. If he comes through with another good year he has a chance to break Conlin's one season scoring record of 675 points and an outside chance of breaking Big Ed's total point record of i,886. - l 1, . Brady lets go against the Hall. Gaines and Chesney missed blocking Jimmy's shot Cunningham drives past Parenti for a bucket. 227 BlQ Bill hits againf