Manhattan College - Manhattanite Yearbook (Riverdale, NY)

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FTER an impressive opening cere- mony in which Commissioner Arthur V . Sheridan, representing Borough President James J. Lyons, threw up the first ball, Manhattan opened its 1945-46 basketball season against Brooklyn Cathedral College. Though the ceremony was impressive, the Jasper playing was anything but, as they dropped a close game to a weaker but inspired Brooklyn Cathedral squad. The Kelly Green quintet, though beaten, was never lacking in drive and spirit and the game was not decided until the final gun. In the first few minutes of the game the Jasper five jumped to a quick lead of six points as Bob Kelly broke through for two baskets and then added a foul to add to Verschuui-en's first score of the game, a foul. The Blue and White of Cathedral, however, sparked by Bill Boylan and Jim Cavanaugh, slowly cut the lead until at the quarter the score was Manhattan ll - Cathedral 8. The second quarter, which was featured by its energetic play by both sides, opened with the clubs battling evenly until Man- hattan gained a six point advantage on some deadly set shots by Maynard Baker. Again Cavanaugh led his team in its fight back into the game, and at the half Manhattan led 22 - 20. The third quarter was about even as Cathedral edged up to within a point of Manhattan, going into the final quarter 31 - 30. The play reached fever pitch in the final stanza which was replete with fierce play and football-like spills. Kelly hit the chords to swell Manhattan's lead to three markers, but a one-hander by Cavanaugh and a long set shot by Pres- ton put the visitors in front for good. When Boylan and Cavanaugh followed this with a layup and two free throws, respectively, their lead became five points, their largest in the evening. Baker cut 2 this lead to four by sinking a foul, but time was running out and the Brooklyn- ites began freezing the ball. Another foul shot by Johnny Hughes put the Jaspers within striking distance and aroused new hope in the hearts of the Manhattanmen. This hope soon died when Cavanaugh put in a one-hander for his twentieth point of the game which was followed a few seconds later by the sound of the final gun. The final score was Manhattan 37 - Cathedral 40. marifime ln the second game of the season, Manhattan, a bit wiser as a result of its loss to Brooklyn Cathedral, trounced the New York State Maritime Academy 44 -- 21. This was the beginning of a seven game winning streak which was to include victories over Wagner, Boston College, New York Cathedral, the Uni- versity of Scranton, American Inter- national College, and the Alumni. The score is no indication of the closeness of the game, as it wasn't until Larry Miggins, the 6'3 center, formerly of Fordham Prep, was put out of the game that the Jasper Five rolled up the score. Bob Kelly, who was Manhattan's high scorer in the Cathedral game also took top scoring honors with fifteen points. Captain Charley Verschuuren while scor- ing eleven points for second place honors, also did a fine job in setting up the plays and working the ball. Clgflel' The second team to go down to defeat at the hands of the Jasper Five was Wagner College from Staten Island. The boys from across the sea had a fighting ball club but when the gun went off, Manhattan led 50 - 30. just as coming

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events forecast their shadows, so Jack Byrnes demonstrated what was in store for the future opponents of the Green. After scoring only two points in the pre- vious two games, the six foot three right forward gathered twelve points against the lslanders. This was only the begin- ning of Jack's scoring spree, which at the end totaled 160 points in 16 games. Besides being a scoring threat, Jackie, as he is known, is a terrific floor man and his passes continually bring shouts of amazements from the stands. Another factor witnessed in this game was the deceptibility which Byrnes possesses. Through his ability to feint his man out of position, Jack rolls up his score. Witli this year's experience under his belt, Jack should lead Manhattan to many victories in the future. agnfernafiona Manhattan won its third victory in four starts by trouncing the American International College of Springfield, Mass. 53 - 35. Jack Byrnes, who played left guard in this game, having switched from his original right forward position starred for the Jasper Five. He scored thirteen points in the first half and prob- ably would have had a tremendous total had he not injured his leg in this period. The crowd was held in amazement by his tricky ball handling and passing as well as his ability to score and gave him volu- minous applause for his Hue work. Gerry Cohane, who started the second half at left guard then paced the Manhattan scoring attack by securing eight points for himself and setting up scoring plays for his teammates. Late in the third quar- ter he relinquished the position to Byrnes, who finished the game with a total of five held goals and four foul shots for four- teen points, two higher than his previous game. umni The echo of old acquaintances had barely subsided when the youngsters, the Varsity, proceeded with the business on hand - that of trouncing the oldsters, the Alumni. The old timers fought a losing battle. Although they were out of condition, and slightly aging, the gradu- ates managed to score thirty-six points against the Varsity's sixty. The Alumni attack was led by Jack McGurk, captain of the '37 team, who racked up the highest score in the game. Wlieii McGurk was in his sophomore year he was selected to the all-Eastern team in 1935 and the following year was the unanimous selection for the a1l-Met- ropolitan five. Many of his former team- mates played with him in this game. Some of them were Tom Ryan, Gene Kenny, Eddie Flanagan, and Nat Volpe. Gene Kenny was responsible for most of the entertainment on the floor. His antics kept the interest of the audience all the time that he played. Others on the Alumni roster were Dan Christie, Bob Donohue, Dick 0,Rourke, Buckley, Kerr, and Doran. CCI, tA2Jl Cl,! Continuing in their victorious stride, the Kelly Green out-played the New York Cathedral College team by the tremend- ous score of 76 - 43. This game marked the fifth straight victory for the Man- hattanites, and was also the highest score rolled up by them this season. Cathedral was completely out-classed in all forms of play, being dominated over by the Jasper Five on the floor, on the back- boards and in the scoring. At no time of the game did Cathedral make a bid for the lead. By the time they had scored