SATURDAY. MARCH 13. 1954
S pptl.l~Ht
GUS PRAISES LAGERS
My old friend Gus Fan dropped in yesterday. He usually makes
an appearance about this time every year, just when Penn State's
winter athletes are winding up their seasons with the heavy bom
bardment of spring tournaments.
With the Lion gymnastic, wrestling, and boxing teams in the
midst of their usual Eastern fights, Gus is just as happy as ever,
analyzing each team and presenting his expert opinion as to how
each will fare in their respective tourneys.
But this year Gus is really in a dither. He hasn't forgotten
•
' about the other three; but he's concentrating on basketball this
week, keeping a watchful eye on Elmer Gross' surprising basket
ball team.
"You know," he commented, "this team is actually . a
lot better
than their season record indicates. That 14-5 record could just as
well be 17-2 or even 18-1."
About this time I perked up to the philosophical words my
.ittle visitor was blurting and began to listen with more care.
"Take that Navy game for instance," he continued, "we had an
11 point lead on that team when the second half began, but some
thing got into the Middies. I have never seen a team get so hot, so
,fast. They just couldn't miss in the third quarter. AbOut the only
way Penn State could have stopped Clune, on that pivot shot of his
would have been by putting a lid on the basket."
"What about Pitt?" I asked.
"Well, Pitt did play a terrific game against us 'in Pittsburgh.
But the odds were all in their favor. We had beaten them earlier,
coming from behind three times before we won it in the third
overtime period. So naturally they were out to get us in that one."
But the big factor in that game, j feel, was the article that
by some strange reason appeared in a Pittsburgh paper on the day
of the game. According to the story, the Lions were a 'certainty' to
get an NCAA playoff bid if they beat the Panthers. I'd bet my
white 'bucks' that the story gave Pitt an added boost.
"Gus," I said. "you have a couple of good points there, but
remember the games have been played and you. nor I, nor Elmer
Gross can do a thing about them now."
"Don't interrupt me now," he replied,
"Okay Gus, shoot."
"The Colgate and Syracuse games on the road—those two
were heartbreakers," he said. "The team just had bad nights. We
beat both of them at Rec Hall , and they didn't even give us a
contest. I -know that neither one of those two can match us
man-for-man."
"You might be right there Gus," I answered, "but remember,
the best of them lose, especially in this basketball business. Take a
look at Duquesne. The Dukes were flying high, an undefeated
season right under their noses—then bingo, two losses on two con
secutive nights."
"Then this week Kansas was booted right out of the NCAA
records when Missouri ; obviously a poorer team according to
records whipped them. As I said before It happens to the best of
them."
I •
"Well, I'm still damn happy about the outcome of this basket
ball season, particularly the game last Tuesday with Toledo. That
was the finest fourth quarter exhibition that team has shown
all year, and Gross handled his players perfectly throughout the
entire game." •
By this time Gus was edging toward the door, probably late
for his four o'clock.
"I still think Elmer's coaching a great ball club," he remarked
as he backed into the hall.
•
Agreed, Gus, agreed!
Pitt Advances 8 Men
(Corainned from. page one)
the first period but lost a pinning
hold. In another attempt, Ray es
caped and then Maurey secured a
body press in 2:02.
Frey and Lou Mentillo of Army
both went scoreless in a dull first
period but then in the second
frame the Lion 147-pounder be
gan to manhandle the Cadet. He
had a pinning hold but slipped
off the mat. Frey scored a reverse
in the final period and added two
minutes on time advantage for a
4-0 win.
After a touch and go tussle in
every period, Art Noe, Penn, fin-.
ally de,cisioned Penn State's 157-
pound entry, Bill Shawley, 12-9.
Noe led the attack in the first
period with a takedown. In the
second period, with Shawley in
temporary command, Noe finally
escaped. Shawley, however, re
bounded to take the takedown.
The third period offered the
most action of the afternoon. Noe
took two takedowns after an es
cape each time by Shawley. Noe's
second takedown resulted in a
near fall. Shawley then reversed
his Penn opponent, who in turn
reversed the Lion. Shawley put
on a final -burst in the closing
third period with an escape and
a takedown over Penn's matman.
DICK McDOWELL
Assistant Sports Editor
Pitt's Joe Solomon handed Joe
r Humphreys a 6-1 drubbing in the
167-pound class, after losing the
first-period takedown. Solomon,
however, rode the Lion for the en
tire second period. In the third
stanza, Solomon combined two
minutes riding time, a takedown,
and a reversal to wrap up his
preliminary victory.
Joe Krufka returned to his pre
season mat performance yester
day afternoon when he dumped
Ed Rowland of Brown, 6-0. The
cautious Lion took two takedowns
in the first period, and then
strengthened his lead with a third
period reversal and two minutes
riding time. Krufka also obtained
riding time in the second period
while missing several times in
near-pinning attempts.
Penn State's outstanding Lion
heavyweight, Bill Oberly. pinned
Rox Ride, Rutgers, with the cra
dle at 2:31 of the first period, af
ter winning the takedown.
Hugh Peery, Pitt's two-time
NCAA. 115-pound champ, scored
an unimpressive win over Jerry
Yoder. of Franklin and Marshall,
7-3, in a 123-pound tussle.
Thirty falls were registered in
the afternoon session, with Le
myre's pin bein g the second
fastest.
'M DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE', PENNSYLVANIA
"I'm not finished yet."
Lions Upset
Louisiana
In Tourney
(Continued frchn page one)
smooth shifting zone defense held
the taller Bengals in check.
Captain Jack Sherry, Jim
Blocker, and Ron Weidenhammer
backed Arnelle with 31 points be
tween them. Sherry and Blocker
each had 11 and Weidenhammer,
playing his usual fine floor game,
hit for nine.
The Lions trailed 19-14 after
one period but then opened up
their offensive guns for the final
three. They scored 20 in the sec
ond, 20 more in the third and then
cut the cords for 23 markers in the
final canto.
Trailing 51-49 late in the third
period, Earl Fields' foul point
and , two successive field goals by
Ed Haag put State in the lead,
54-51, and from there in they
were never headed. The Tigers
rebounded early, in the fourth per
iod to tie the score at 59-59 but a
quick jump shot by Jim Blocker
brought them the lead again, and
then they started to widen the
gap. Consecutive baskets by
Blocker, Arnelle, and Weiden
hammer moved the count to 65-59.
Bengals Close Gap
But the fighting Bengals, who
had lost only three games pre
viously, came back, keeping the
margin low, and with three min
utes remaining the Lions led by
only three, 71-68.
At this point the Nittanies
slowed their offense and the anx
ious Tigers pressed hard for the
ball. They fouled heavily in the
process and with time running out
the Lions - scored five foul points
to put the game on ice. Jim Block
er's jump shot in the closing sec
onds struck the final blow.
The most important point in
the game, however, may have
been the Nittanies' roaring come
back in the second period. After
staying neck-and-neck with LSU
in the first quarter, State began
to sag in the second canto as Pet
tit began to hit from underneath.
They soon found themselves
trailing 29-22.
Tide Changes
But the tide changed abruptly.
Suddenly finding their shooting
eye, the Lions exploded for 11
straight points and shot into the
lead 33-29. And from that • point
the stunned Bengals were ,never
able to rebuild their lead. Arnelle,
playing one of .his finest games
this season, took control- of the
rebounds and kept the scoring
tempo alive.
Pettit alone kept the Bengals
in the ball game. The alert Nit
tany defense stymied the LSU
offensive pattern but the big All-
American, using his height to ad
vantage, kept up his point bar
rage.
But in the end, it was Penn
State on top, winning their sec
ond consecutive NCAA victory.
Tonight they meet the winner of
the Notre Dame-Indiana Game in
the regional finals. The winner
will qualify for the finals sched
uled for Kansas City next Friday
and Saturday.
PENN STATE LSO'
fg f tpl fg f tp
Sherry.f 1 9-13 Ilielark,f 3 2-4 8
Rohland,f 0 2-4 21Belcher,f 3 0-0 6
Blockenf - 5 1-1 11 McNeely,f 0 2-2 2
Marisa,f 0 0-0 o , Sabastian,f 0 0-0 0
Arnelle,c 10 4-7 24 Pettit,c 13 3-9 34
Weid'h'eng 4 1-2 9 Freshlie,c 0 0-0 0
Haag,g 3 1-3 7 McArdlex 5 4-6 14
Fields,g 3 1-2 7 Magee,g 2 2-3 6
Breweng 3 1-2 7
Totals - 29 20-34 78 Totals 26 18-24 70
Score by periods—
Penn State
__ 14 20 20 24-78
__ 19 13 19. 19-70
Dukes, Holy Cross
To Battle in Final
NEW YORK, March 12 (iP)L--
Duquesne, perhaps the best de
fensive team in major college bas
ketball but an unsteady perform
er right now, and blazing-hot
Holy Cross, one of the top scor
ing teams, meet tomorrow night
in the final game of the 17th Na
tional Invitation basketball tourn
ament.
Western Kentucky and Niagara,
the losers in Thursday's semifi
nals, clash in ‘. a preliminary to
decide third place. With the up
set-seeking Crusaders as the big
attraction, Madison Square Gar-
den is likely to be packed to its
18,000 capacity for the first time
this season.
Army Shows House
'Value of the Dollar'
LAKELAND, Fla., March 12 (W)—After two years of army life,
Frank House, Detroit's $75,000 bonus catcher', thinks he now rea
lizes the value of a dollar.
House, 24, is on terminal leave as he works
He will report back to camp for separation from
three days after the season opener.
"I'm a lot more serious now,"
he, said. "This year I have a_ good
chance to make the ball club."
The youngster smiled pleasantly
as he talked about the changes
the Army had made,
At Fort Jackson
"When you're in the service,
you realize what it meant to play
baseball for a living: When I
went in, there was•heavy fighting
in Korea. Nobody knew but that
he might be going tomorrow
morning. I didn't go. I stayed at
Ft. Jackson in South Carolina.
But I realize the value of a dollar
more now. They don't come easy
in the Army."
How about the $75,000? Wasn't
there any left?
"Uncle Sam got over half of it
in taxes," he said. "Sure, there's
some left. But no $75,000."
Houpe was only 18 when he got
his big bonus and two new cars
from. Detroit. They signed him to
a Flint, Mich., contract in the
Central League so he had a chance
to play one year in the minors
under the bonus rule then in
operation. He caught 107 games
for Flint, hitting .261 and reports
of his carefree attitude filtered
back to headquarters.
'Was Just a Kid'
"I was just a kid with a lot of
money in my pocket," he said. ` , `l
didn't like the game any less than
I do now. But maybe I didn't
bear down so much."
Freddie Hutchison, who suc
ceeded Red Rolfe as manager
while House was in service, said:
Mrs. Gehrig Dies
MILFORD, Conn., March 12 (IP)
—Mrs. Christina Gehrig, 72-year
old mother of the later Lou Gehr
ig, great New York Yankee first
baseman and slugger in the 19305,
died today in Milford Hospital.
She had hoped to live long
enough to see the Yankees open
the 1954 baseball season. She suf
fered a stroke Wednesday.
out with the Tigers.
the service April 16,
PIAA Mat,
Tank Finals
Here Today
SOme 150 schoolboy Mat and
tank stars close Pennsylvania's
1954 wrestling and swimming sea
sons tomorrow in competition for
state championships.
The University campus will be
the scene of the Pennsylvania In
terscholastic Athletic Assn. meets.
They will draw wrestlers and
swimmers who qualified in last
week's regional meets around the
state.
In the absence of an official
team scoring system, interest in
wrestling will focus on three of
last year's individual winners
seeking 1954 championships.
York, defending its team title
in swimming, will find itself in a
stern five-way battle with Erie
Strong Vincent, Lancaster, Coates
ville and Allentown. The Bearcats
will also defend two relay cham
pionships. No individual winners
in the 1953 meet are returning.
Erie Strong Vincent, by virtue
of its big margin of victory in the
PIAA Western regional swim,
rules a slight favorite. York was
nosed out by a point and a half
by, Lancaster and tied by Coates
ville in the Eastern regional.
The three returning wrestling
champions all are competing in
heavier weight groups than last
year.
They include Nick Petronke,
Washington, now in the 138-pound
group; Joe Shook, Washington
Trinity, 112 pounds, and Phil Bock,
Philipsburg, 103 pounds.
Washington Trinity has four en
trants in the state meet, largest
number from any one school.
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