SUNDAY. MARCH• 14. 1954 sp. , / SPOUIGIAI SURPRISED LIONS NOW SURPRISING When Penn State was given an "at large" bid to the National Collegiate Atheltic Association basketball eliminations two weeks ago, probably no one was more surprised than Elmer Gross, the genial Lion coach. Early in February, when the NCAA selections committee began to. watch College basketball teams, searching for possible entrants to the 24-team tourney, Penn State's name was whispered (but only whispered) as a possible participant. The Lions were having a good season. No, they hadn't played in Madison Square Garden. They had no metropolitan newspaper backing, but they were winning games. Only two losses blotched their record, Navy and North Carolina State. Both were considered hot-shot teams in collegiate ranks so the Nittanies had no cause for bowed heads here. The whispering grew louder as 'Penn State swung into the tail end of the season. Then, boom, three teams, all beaten by the Lions in previous contests, cashed in their chips at the expense of a slumping Penn State ball club. Pitt, Colgate, and Syracuse all hung stinging defeats on State in consecutive games. The whispering died to a reverent silence The sudden influx of losses didn't hurt the team's morale, how ever, and it bounced right back in the next contest to beat a good Gettysburg quintet, 74-61. And that's the way it went for the rest of the season. The tournament bid, came with two games remaining on the schedule. There was almost no advance warning., The Nittanies were given the last "at large" bid dealt by the Committee. It was obvious that if Duquesne or St. Francis (Loretto, Pa.) had not accepted bids to the National Invitation Tournament in New York, Penn State would have been left out in the cold. But we'll bet right now that the NCAA brass are thankful things turned out the way they did. Snubbed in national rankings, the Lions have become the most talked about team in the tournament. Their win against Toledo was not entirely surprising, but when they upset topnotch Louisiana State Friday night, writers, and fans, took notice. Here was a team that hadn't won a conference championship (they didn't even belong to one), had no exceptional record (14-5), and no All-American, although Jesse Arnelle is listed among the nation's best. But yet they were able to handcuff one of the best teams in the college ranks. And in doing so they may have taught a lot of people a lesson—the zone defense is not obsolete. Gross' smooth de fensive unit hai shown that, time and time again for the last three years. But this week they proved it conclusively. The Lions held Toledo to 14 field goals and nine of them were scored by set shot artist Phil Martin. Louisiana State. was completely baffled by the Nittany zone. All-American Bob Pettit poured in 34 points but the rest of the Bengal quintet could find the range on only 13 shots from the field. Louisiana just couldn't make its offensive patterns click against Gross' defense. And for those who claim that a zone team can't score because their defense slows their offense, there are records to prove them wrong. In 22 games the Lions have tallied 1467 points for a record (Penn State) 71.1 average a game. A goodly chunk of scoring in anybody's league. A very surprising Penn State basketball team, forgotten when the nation's sportswriters handed out their weekly laurels, has played basketball in its finest form against two of the nation's better college quintets, garnering two straight wins in the NCAA sweep stakes. And at this writing the spunky band of Pennsylvanians are set to meet another monstrous challenge. This time it's Notre Dame, the nation's hottest team at the moment. Win or lose the Lions have given more than their share. • They've won two games more than were generally conceded to them. They've done it with guts and heart. Who can ask for more? By. DICK McDOWELL Assistant Sports Editor and SAVE at the LAUNDERETTE Complete cycle of expert service •WASHING & DRYING QUICK PRESSING *DRY CLEANING HIRTS BEAUTIFULLY FINISHED Why• not phone 4785 and try our new 'ICK UP AND DELIVERY SERVICE LAUNDERETTE 210 W. College Avenue THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA Cagers Top Notre Dame (Contznued from page one) range again. With less than a minute reading on the clock, Ar nelle dumped in his eighth Point of the quarter and the score stood at 70-59. And then it was just a mater of time. Notre Dame had time for two quick field goals, and Arnelle added a foul point before the buzzer signaled the end of the contest. Contrasting the furious ending of the game, the first quarter op ened slowly. However, the scoring tempo increased rapidly and soon hit a mild frenzy. In all, the lead chaned hands 11 times in the first half before Arnelle's two foul points gave the Lions a 28-27 edge —a lead they never lost. . The NCAA field is now nar rowed down to four teams. They will be paired against each other Friday at Kansas City. Penn State will face either LaSalle, Okla homa A&M, or the winner of the Southern California-Santa Clara game, played on the West coast last night. Penn State will return home be fore going to Kansas City. They are scheduled to arrive in State College at 2 a.m. Monday. PENN STATE NOTRE DAME, fg I 01 fg f tp Sherry,f 4 6-7 14 Bertrand,f 4 4-6 12 Rohland,f 0 0-0 0 Fannon,f 4 2-3 10 Blocker,f 5 3-6 13 McGinn,f 0 0-0 0 Arnelle,c 7 8-9 22 Rosenthal,c 5 4-6 14 Weid'h'er,g 1 1-2 3 Sullivan,g 2 3-4 7 Brewer,g 4 1-1 9 Stephens,g 6 8-12 20 Haag,g 3 4-4 10 Fielcis.g 0 0-0 Totals 24 23-29 71 Totals 21 21-31 63 Score by periods MMOM __ 15 16 14 26-71 __ 15 13 '44. 21-63 Notre Dame NCAA Roundup . At Philadelphia LaSalle 64; Navy 48 (cham pionship) North Carolina State 65, Cor nell 54 (consolation) At lowa City, la. Penn State 71, Notre Dame 63 (championship) Indiana over Louisiana State (consolation) At Stillwater, Okla. Bradley 71, Oklahoma A&M 57 (championship) Poster Co - ntest Deadline Set Entries in the Greek Week pos ter contest must be turned in at the Student Union desk in Old Main by March 20, co-chairmen Benjamin Lowenstein and Kath erine Reynolds have announced. Lowenstein said yesterday he had not yet received any entries but that it was still very early. He said posters comparable to those entered last year need some time to complete. First in Twelve Pitt's wrestling victory over Penn State in 1954 was its first in an even dozen attempts. STANDS OUT in play • Harder Smashes • Better Cut and Spin STANDS UP in your racket • Moisture Immune • Lasting Liveliness COSTS LESS V, than gut APPROX. STRINGING COST:Pro-Fectedßraid....s6.o Matti-Ply Braid $5.00 At tennis shops and sporting goods stores D .k.,..k1.•,..Y,.-.A4'ERA.,::.'.,..1,--.D.7..;..ER A b i ., , :.. , . i-. : . Ei. .: , 2 t. / .. t ..... R., .. ; .:.1N:',... q_•-....'..•:.-.,,,.,•:,.:.'. th'ko:totlhP : 6la63ioo* ~........,..,:,_. ... Holy Cross Upsets Duquesne in NIT NEW YORK (2P)—Hustling Togo Palazzi and his Holy Cross teammates scored one of basketball's top upsets tonight by defeating top-seeded Duquesne, 71-62, in the finals of the National Invita tional Tournament in New York. Palazzi scored 20 points and was a terror on defense as the Crusaders scored a decisive victory. teammates scored Much smaller than the Iron Dukes and considered a six-point underdog, the Crusaders jumped into a 19-8 first period lead and were never seriously pressed. Dq quesne pulled to within 5 points at the • half, but a quick third quarter spurt put Holy Cross ahead by 11 and they stayed com fortably in front the rest of the Palazzi, While scoring less than he usually does, did such a good job on defense against•Duquesne's top scorer Dick Ricketts that the big forward collected , o n 1 y 13 points. Ricketts wasn't able to stick with Palazzi and fouled out with most of the fourth quarter remaining. Palazzi, who had scored 32 points in a surprise victory over Western Kentucky Thursday night was named the most valuable player in • the tournament. Sophomore center Tom Hein sohn matched Palazzi's total of 20 points. Si Green led Duquesne with 16 points, 14 of them in the second half. The thi r d member of the Duke's high-scoring trio, Jim Tucker, scored 11. Niagara won third place in the tournament in another upset. They defeated Western Kentucky in the opening game of the final double-header, 71-65. Bo Erias led Niagara with 21 points. Tom Mar shall of Western was top man with 29 points. Unbeaten Wrestler DiClc Lemyre, of Merrick, N.Y., Penn State wrestling co-captain, finished his, third season of dual meet competition undefeated. Winning String Unbeaten again in 1954, Penn State's gymnastics team now owns a string of 15 straight victories. Gola Leads LaSalle To Win Over Navy LaSalle won the National Col legiate Athletic Association re gional tournament in Philadel phia last night and advanced to next week's semi-finals in Kansas Cty, Mo., by overwhelming Navy, 64-48. North Carolina State won the consolation game in Philadelphia defeating Cornell 65-54 behind the 26-point performance of 'Mel Thompson. The Explorers broke loose for 43 points in the second half after being held to a 21-21 tie in the first two periods. Sophomore Bob Maples scored eight straight points at the start of the third period to turn the close game into a rout. As usual, all-American Tom Gola was La- Salle's leader with 22 points and 24 rebounds. Service Fraternity Pledges 30 Men Alpha Phi. Om eg a, national service fraternity, has pledged 30 men students. Pledges are Duane Buck, George Yengling, Phillip Saund ers, Huston Adam,. Douglas Moorhead, James Miller, 'Lawr ence Pryekop, Robert Shreve, William Stiffler, Edward Duffy, Doyle Miller, Ronald Woolcock, Robert Kokat, John Lazor, Wil bert Nace, Walter Fair. Burton Jones, Robert Thomas, Donald McKittrick, Robert Dent ermar, John Sieber, John McCabe, Paul Ebert, John Schall, John Grubeo, Gerald Robinson, Charles Harner, Steven Babcock, Robert Kralsuff, and Donald Ziegler. PAGE THREE
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