Iowa Wesleyan College - Croaker Yearbook (Mount Pleasant, IA)

Page 95 text:

THE 1919 CROAKER tEfje i-beaston Wesleyan has the right to claim second place in the Conference this year. There were many surprises during the season so far as the results of games arc concerned, many of the weaker teams occasionally winning over the leaders. But so far as consistent winning is concerned, but one college in the Conference surpassed Wesleyan. Four games of the season stand out strongly, namely: those with Knox, Cornell, St. Ambrose, and Simpson. With Knox we had one of the best games of the season, our opponents winning by a margin of four points scored in the last few minutes of play. Wesleyan takes this defeat as no humiliation as Knox won the championship of the “Little Five”. Our game against Cornell gave that school a great surprise. Lack of sleep, resulting from poor train connections the night before, handicapped our team. Until the last six minutes of the first half, when Kepler, the cnlongated center of Cornell, got away for a long string of baskets, Wesleyan was in the lead. The second half Wesleyan came back strong, but not sufficiently so as to win the game. Although the score looks large, 33 to 20 in favor of Cornell, it does not signify the real difference in the teams. Coach Finger of Cornell said he considered it the strongest Iowa Conference team he had played. After playing Cornell, Wesleyan journeyed to St. Ambrose, which had won every game on its schedule, and was conceded to be the strongest team in the “Little Hawk-eye Conference”. Wesleyan defeated St. Ambrose 24 to 12, the first time this school had met defeat on its home floor in three years. The climax of the season’s success came when we met Simpson College on the Ottumwa Y. M. C. A. floor. At the beginning of the season we journeyed to Indianola to play Simpson, which we did more to accommodate Simpson’s schedule than our own, as we had been practicing but two or three evenings, while Simpson had been grinding away for a month or more and had played two games. The game resulted in 21 to 18 defeat for Wesleyan. After some extended correspondence, in which Simpson refused us a return game at Mt. Pleasant, it was finally agreed to meet on a neutral floor, and have the real game of the season. Simpson came to Ottumwa absolutely confident of victory, having defeated Drake two nights before 54 to 5. Wesleyan was just as confident of victory. And how they played! From the first blow of the whistle we had the game salted down. Simpson could not work the ball past the center of the floor. In fact, our opponents became so frantic that they threw the ball without looking, one player deliberately throwing the ball in Wesleyan’s basket. The first half ended in our favor 11 to 3, the last half 18 to 8. It was a great day for the Purple and White, and with the fine material coming to us next year, we will better than repeat our record next season.

Page 94 text:

ORVILLE DEAN Captain Dean has just finished his third season of basketball at Wesleyan. He played a good consistent game this season, and rarely over was outplayed by his opponent in the matter of points scored. He has been honored by being the Captain of a winning team.

Page 96 text:

THE 1919 CROAKER Wft MILO HARSHBARGER Captain-elect L. F. Ike played the star game for Wesleyan this year. He averaged a little less than four baskets per game. He is a fighter who doesn’t know how to quit, and plays a typically college style of ball. He will beat the head of what looks like a championship team next year. PHIL LOGAN Sub. Phil made good wherever he was put in the game. Although handicapped in size, he was a good fighter, and kept his head even though the game was a hair-raiser. In the Simpson game he was a surprise. This is his last year at Weslcvan.