PAGE SIX
Memphis State,
17-4, Boasts .420
Shooting Average
Penn Slate, determined not to let its Wednesday loss to
Penn sour spirits, turns to nearing tournament action today,
and the Lions are readying themselves for a tough foe.
Coach John Egli’s quintet, which opens its NCAA tourney
drive for the third time in four seasons Tuesday, will face
one of the nation’s best small college teams in Memphis State
College.
Penn State meets the Tigers in the opening round of the
eastern regional eliminations of the 24-team national tourna-
ment in Lexington, Ky.
Memphis State’s remarkable ac
curacy from the field appears to
be the biggest problem the Lions
will have to lick. The Tigers have
been connecting at a 42 per cent
clip in compiling a 17-4 record
to date. Dr. Gene Lambert’s team
had a 16-game winning streak
snapped this week when it lost
to Centenary, 70-68.
Four in Double Figures
Each of the Tiger regulars is
hitting at better than 41 per cent
from the field and four of the
five starting five are averaging
in the double figures.
Moreover, all the Tiger cagers
have shown that they can hit the
high figures on any given night.
Their ace, forward-center Forest
Arneold, who is averaging 19.7
Soints per game, has reached into
jie thirties several times mis sea
son and center Millard Davis,
averaging 14.8, hit 31 points in one
game.
Guard Ken Caldwell, averaging
15.9, hit for 30, 28, 26, and 24
points at various stages of the
season. In addition, the Tigers’
other two frontliners, Hoover
Scott and Elmer Forner, have
both reached the 20-point mark
at times. Scott is averaging 13.7
points per game and Fortner is
hitting at nine points.
Topped Texas Tech
Among the Tigers’ many vic
tims this year have been such
mid and southwest powers as
1954 NCAA entry Texas Tech,
Murray State, Nebraska, and Mis
sissippi.
Only Dayton, Xavier, More
head and Centenary hold victor
ies over Lampert’s team. Dayton
is an NIT entry, Xavier con
qured Furman, 130-117, and
Morehead was barely edged by
Kentucky in their encounter, an
indication that the Tigers have
plenty.
Lambert also has been finding
remarkable success with his re
serve strength this season. He has
been able to call on five good men
from the bench.
Graham Faces Vejar
In Comeback Attempt
NEW YORK, March 3 (&)
Billy Graham, the old < boxing
master of the welterweight divi
sion, will make one final try to
morrow night to see if he has
anything left when he faces am
bitious Chico Vejar in Madison
Square Garden.
The 32-year-old New Yorker,
idle five months, is given an even
chance in the betting against the
23-year-old NYU junior from
Stamfprd, Conn. The 10-rounder
will get under way at 10 p.m.
(EST), and will be broadcast and
telecast (NBC).
National League batting cham
pion Willie Mays hit .348 against
right handers and .337 against
lefties in compiling his .345 aver
age.
4 Veterans
Top Orange
Gym Team
Coach Paul Romeo will have a
plentiful supply of veteran gym
nasts to throw against Penn
State’s acrobats when the Lions
invade the Orangemen of Syra
cuse tomorrow afternoon.
Four front-line Syracuse per
formers, all of whom appeared
against the Nittanies last year,
will be backed by a host of new
comers who provide the Orange
with a great deal of depth.
From the outset of the season,
co-captains Corky Sebbo and Mi
lan Trnka, along with Dan Tra
ficante and Andy Felice com
prised a foursome around which
Romeo could develop a formid
able squad.
Trnka is the Orange’s top man
on the horizontal bar, parallels,
and flying rings. On the H-bar he
stands as one of the East’s best,
averaging around the 270 mark.
Chuck Luttinger and George Gore
back him on the horizontal. Bill
Hogeboom and Nick Monocchio
are two-three on the twin bars,
and Traficante and Hogeboom are
second and third on the rings.
Strong on Parallels
The Orange is strong in all
three events, but the Nittanies
will probably find their toughest
battle on the parallel bars.
Sebbo, one-time NCAA champ
in tumbling, has done nothing but
improve on his route the past
year, and looms as a sure bet to
cop another mat victory tomor
row. He’s been consistently going
the route about 25 points better
than Bill Paxton, Lion entry on
the mats.
Syracuse probably will hold an
upper hand on the side horse,
with Trificante leading the pack
and getting able support from
Paul Barkal and Felice. All three
must be considered threats, and
can take first, second and third
in any order.
Hold Decided Advantage
The Nittanies will hold a de
cided advantage on the rope, with
Lion Skeets Haag, who leads the
East with a 3.4 clocking against
Temple, at least seven notches
better than anything the Orange
has to offer.
Felice has been putting in a
regular 4.2 effort with Hogeboom
and Monocchio scaling the 20-
foot hemp around the five second
mark.
With the Lions holding the up
per hand on the rope, and Syra
cuse strong on the parallels, to
morrow’s winner will no doubt
be decided on the outcome of the
final four events, which could go
either way.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
Matmen Visit Pitt Tomorrow
in EIWA T Tuneup
Right now, with the Lions
set to meet Pitt in the season
finale, the battle for top dog in
the East looks like it’s going
to revolve around four teams
—Lehigh, Pitt, Navy, and the
Lionst
Lehigh, previous winner ov
er Pitt and one of the Lions’
victims, meets Navy this week
end on its home mats. Pitt, the
Lions’ weekend companion, was
dropped by Lehigh, 14-12.
The results of this weekend’s
action on the mats of these four
teams should give an indication
of what can be expected in the
Eastern tourney set for/Rec Hall
one week from today.
On paper the Lions could eas
ily come out the “top” team—if
such a team can be designated
now. Since , Lehigh has beaten
Pitt, and Penn State has beaten
Lehigh the position of the Lions
in the four-horse race hinges on
not only the outcome of the Pitt-
Lion match but also on the Le
high-Navy scrap in Bethlehem.
The Lions need to whip Pitt,
and Lehigh must clip Navy to
throw the spotlight on coach
Charlie Speiael’s Nittany eight.
Penn State would then be on top
of the heap by virtue of a formu
la that included such ingredients
as Lehigh beating Pitt, Navy beat
ing the Lions, the Lions whipping
Lehigh and Pitt, and Lehigh do
ing the expected by stopping
Navy.
Pitt can be and has been beat
en, and although it has three un
defeated men, the Lions far out
class their Steel City rivals.
'Dead-Pan' Fields Almost Fooled Fans
Sleepy-eyed Earl Fields,
Penn State’s versatile junior
forward, has been proving
himself a fine basketball play
er for three years at Penn
State, but it took a concen
trated effort against Pitt last
week to make Penn State fans
conscious of his abilities.
Fields’ dead pan, nonchalant
methods on the basketball court
make him one of those players
who goes forever unnoticed and
this season he’s been averaging
an unnoticed 9.8 points per game.
However, when he cleaned the
cords with six consecutive one
handed set shots in the fitst half
of the Panther game Saturday,
Nittany fans suddenly realized
that they had been missing some
thing.
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i
Bob Cook
Pitt's 147 Pound&r
Coach Rex Peery of Pitt must
rely on Ed, his son, Joe Solomon,
and Ed Dewitt to get the bulk oi!
his points. Whether Peery can pin
Captain Bob Homan at 130 and
Joe Solomon can duplicate the
action against Joe Krufka is a
matter that will be worked out
on the mats.
If one, or any, of Peery’s three
top power men are beaten how-
Fields has. been a consistant
performer all season for the Lions,
particularly on defense where he
uses an uncanny second sense to
break up passes, and usually turns
them into Penn State scores.
In addition, he has shown con
sistently that he can rebound with
any man of his own height, a
sturdy 6-1.
But because of his "non-emo
tional” play, the swift left-hander
always seemed to be overlooked
by the thrill-seeking public.
Almost Fooljsd Egli
Coach John Egli, who tutored
Fields as a freshman, said the
same thing almost happened to
him.
“He almost fooled us when he
came out for basketball three
years ago,” said Egli, “He can be
playing his hardest and still look
like he’s loafing. He’s that type
of player.
“But we soon realized that the
will was there, and that accurate
left-handed set shot sold us on
FRIDAY. MARCH 4. 1955
ever, the Lions will be quick to
have a heavy advantage. Peery’a
five men who round out the re
mainder of the Pitt mat outfit
cannot stack up against such men
as Sid Nodland, Dave Adams, Ed
Paskd, Joe Humphreys, Laity For
nicola, and Bill Oberly.
In losing to Lehigh, Pitt lost
the 137-, 147-, 187-pound, and the
heavyweight bouts. The .Lions
copped a draw at 157 and. took
the heavy battle in defeating Le
high.
Solomon cornered three points
for Pitt when he stopped Dave
Gallaher, 5-3, in a match that
came two weeks after the season
opened. Krufka, four weeks later
at Rec Hall, pinned Gallaher.
Ed DeWitt, the strongest link in
Pitt’s eight-man chain in compar
ison to the Lions’ roundup of meh
for the 167-pound work, white
washed Rog Taylor, 5-0. for three
more points against Lehigh. ,
After Peery defeated Parker
Mangus, 8-1, at 130 and Bill Hul
ings dropped 123-pounder Steve
Wisocker, 7-1. Lehigh’s fearsome
three of Dave Bates (137), Ken
Fuast (147), and Ed Eichelberger
(157) took their bouts to set the
stage for the three final heavier
battles and Lehigh’s eventual Vic
tory.
'Hometown' Grappler*
Tivo “hometown” boys will bid
for titles when the Eastern inter
collegiate wrestling champion
ships are held at the University
March 11-12. Rated top contend
ers in their weights are Larry
Fomicola, 137 pounds, and Dave
Adams, 147. pounds, both grad
uates of nearby Bellefonte High
School.
him from the start.”
Fields has been getting the most
out of that shot this season. Most
of his 236 points have resulted
from his outside shot, but he has
scored consistently from around
the foul line.
Egli attributes his defensive
superiority to a pair of quick eyes
and even quicker hands.
Fits Lions' Defense
“He’s a perfect man for bur sys
tem of defense,” said the Lion
coach, “and it’s a ..pleasure to
watch him work on that front
line.”
Fields Was a work-horse re
serve last season and began 1. to
COme into his own during the
Lion campaign ih the National
Collegiate tournament.
Egli, of course will be glad to
have another experienced hand
around when his team opens its
tourney bid this year, ana Fields
appears to be at his peak tit the
moment. He’ll be a big helper in
the tough tournament grind.