Manhattan College - Manhattanite Yearbook (Riverdale, NY)

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Poppe |ust at the end of the half tied the score, 22-22. High scorers for the night were John Burke of Manhattan and Ken Hag- gerty of Ht)ly Cross, formerly co-captains at Andrevs Jaci son High Scliool, with eleven points apiece. This good showing against Holy Cross was later emphasized as the Cru- Ktlly Y ilihi. ' i V.itlDiiiiilh L.nt ScumbU ' saders became National Champions in the Invitation Tournament. Ihe Jaspers got hack in the winning col- umn at Albany on January 2°), when they gained a hard-fought victory over Siena Col- lege. The seven-point advantage held at the half by the hoine team seemed tenable until a late drive gave the Kelly Green a 50-47 de- cision. The score was tied at least a dozen times, but with one minute remainintr, and the ciiunt knotted at -i7-l7, John Hughes netted a foul shot and Hank Poppe scored under the basket, to provide the winning margin. Poppe was high for the Jaspers with sixteen, but the game high of eighteen was scored by George Weber, a former Man- hattan student. A strong Vermont team was the next to trip the Jaspers, and they turned the trick by the score of 64-58 in their home town of Burlington. The game was one of the best played all season, but was not in the books for a Jasper victory, even though the River- dalers led at half time by the score of 31-24. Sparked by one of the finest ballplayers en- countered all season in Larry Killick, the northerners went ahead midway in the final period, and staved off a strong closing bid by a desperate Manhattan team. Gerry Co- hane led all scorers with twenty-one points. The less said about the next two games the better for all concerned. The victors were St. Francis, 53-52, and ViUanova, 77-60. In the first of these, the Jaspers led, 50-42, with John B nit 252

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his McGuire-Boykoff team, the Kelly Green caught on fire with an eleven-point splurge which narrowed the margin to eight points, but the clock was against us. Bob Kelly was the Jaspers ' top scorer with fifteen points. The jinx that the Garden seems to hold over Manhattan teams continued, as defeat number three was suffered at the hands of nationally promment Syracuse. The boys in Kelly Green outfought and possibly t)ut- played the upstaters, but could not cope with their superior height. Royce Newell, 6 foot 9 inch Orange center, contributed eighteen points to his team ' s total, and most of them were garnered on rebounds. The Jaspers kept the score close until the closing minutes of the first half, but Syracuse broke ahead to lead at the intermission, 31-25. hi the second Six Skymnki. Cciilt half they gradually increased their lead. Poppe carried the scoring burden for Man- hattan with sixteen, followed by Cohane with fourteen. An injury in the Syracuse game sidelined Bob Kelly for the next four games, but he was missed most sorely in the first of these, the encounter with ' Villanova, which was Bill K ' uuds Rings Bell Ay,.iiint Brooklyn Inst, 56-T(). The Jaspers lacked their usual dri e and hustle, and as their set-shots were oft ' , the outcome was inevitable. They trailed, 26-20, at the half, and could not make up the deficit. Joe Lord of Villanova led all scorers with eighteen, while Sig Skronski had twelve for Manhattan. The second road trip led to the Boston Garden and an encounter with Holy Cross. The Jaspers met with no success, as the Cru- saders put on a strong second-half drive to win going away, 58-49. The winners, com- posed mainly of New York bred basketeers, gained an early 11-0 lead, and appeared to be heading for an easy triumph, but the Jas- pers gained steadily, and a foul shot by 251

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only four minutes remauiini:, but manai:ed to blow the lead, although most spectators could not understand just how they did it. Veryzer was the only capable scorer, garnering seven- teen points. In the latter game, the Jaspers were outclassed throughout, and at one time trailed by thirty points. Joe Lord led the home team with twenty-two and Poppe had tweh ' e for Manhattan. The first game of the western swing pro- duced a satisfying victory, as the Kelly Green sported some of their early season aggressive- ness in trimming Eastern Kentucky, 62-16. They held a slim margin throughout, but the home club was constantly threatening. Ed Hicks of Eastern was high man with nine- teen, while Kelly topped other Jaspers with fourteen. The second half of the trip met with disaster, however, as Cincinnati ripped an ice-cold Manhattan five, 57-51. Trailing by twenty points with only ten minutes re- maining m the game, the Jaspers finally woke up, but their spirited closing spurt fell short. The annual jaunt over to Rose Hill, to engage Fordham, might |ust as well not been taken, as the Rams triumphed, 60-5-t. The game v as tense and spirited throughout, with even a short order of fisticufis mixed m. Fordham established a seemingly safe lead at the start of the second half, but a closing drne by the Kelly Greens nearly upset the applec.irt. Jerry Smith, the Rams ' freshman star, led all scorers with nineteen points. For Manhattan, Skronski and Cohane each had nine. Rit ht on the heels of the Fordham setback. -iwr (ir .n Je;( .; Alumni G)m the Jaspers returned to Madison Sc]uare Gar- den, and met a similar fate at the hands of New York University, 67-57. The Violets reigned supreme all the way, although the Jasper five was constantly nipping at their heels. The team played a good game, except 253