# 1953–54 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team

The 1953–1954 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team represented St. Francis College during the 1953–54 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Daniel Lynch, who was in his sixth year at the helm of the St. Francis Terriers. The team was a member of the Metropolitan New York Conference and played their home games at the Bulter Street Gymnasium in their Cobble Hill, Brooklyn campus and at the II Corps Artillery Armory in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
During the 1953–54 season the Terriers won their first regular season conference championship and participated in their first National Invitational Tournament reaching the Quarterfinals. Their participation in the NIT was more impressive considering they had the smallest student body of all schools ever selected and were the only school participating from the NYC area that year. The Terries first round victory over 20th ranked Louisville was considered a notable upset. The 1953–54 season also stands as the Terriers best record of all time.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| November 21, 1953* | Alumni | W 60–55 | 1–0 | Butler Street Gymnasium Brooklyn, NY |
| November 23, 1953* | Fort Monmouth | W 83–60 | 2–0 | Butler Street Gymnasium Brooklyn, NY |
| November 25, 1953* | Equatable Life | W 68–57 | 3–0 | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| Regular Season |||||
| November 28, 1953* | vs. Pace | W 81–61 | 1–0 | |
| December 2, 1953* | Loyola (Baltimore) | W 74–58 | 2–0 | II Corps Armory (1,500) Brooklyn, NY |
| December 5, 1953* | Mount St. Mary's | W 74–54 | 3–0 | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| December 12, 1953* | Providence | W 85–63 | 4–0 | II Corps Armory (2,200) Brooklyn, NY |
| December 17, 1953* 7:45 pm | vs. No. 7 Western Kentucky | L 55–78 | 4–1 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| December 19, 1953* | at Seton Hall | L 65–86 | 4–2 | Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ |
| December 31, 1953* | vs. South Carolina All-American City Basketball Tournament First Round | W 58–55 | 5–2 | Owensboro Sports Center Owensboro, KY |
| January 1, 1954* | at Kentucky Wesleyan All-American City Basketball Tournament Second Round | L 69–71 | 5–3 | Owensboro Sports Center Owensboro, KY |
| January 2, 1954* | vs. Evansville All-American City Basketball Tournament 3rd Place Game | W 84–76 | 6–3 | Owensboro Sports Center Owensboro, KY |
| January 6, 1954 | Fordham | W 53–49 | 7–3 (1–0) | II Corps Armory (3,000) Brooklyn, NY |
| January 9, 1954* | Panzer College | W 89–76 | 8–3 | Butler Street Gymnasium Brooklyn, NY |
| January 13, 1954* | Saint Peter's | W 85–66 | 9–3 | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| January 15, 1954* | at Villanova | W 72–62 | 10–3 | Villanova Field House Villanova, PA |
| January 23, 1954* | Georgetown | W 77–52 | 11–3 | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| January 28, 1954 | at St. John's | W 67–48 | 12–3 (2–0) | DeGray Gymnasium Brooklyn, NY |
| February 3, 1954* | Siena | W 51–47 | 13–3 | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| February 6, 1954* | Adelphi | W 70–59 | 14–3 | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| February 10, 1954* | Temple | W 71–62 | 15–3 | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| February 13, 1954* | at Queens College | W 75–74 | 16–3 | Fitzgerald Gymnasium Flushing, NY |
| February 17, 1954 | CCNY | W 71–51 | 17–3 (3–0) | II Corps Armory (2,500) Brooklyn, NY |
| February 22, 1954 | at Brooklyn College | W 82–49 | 18–3 (4–0) | Roosevelt Gymnasium Brooklyn, NY |
| February 25, 1954* 7:45 pm | vs. Iona | W 69–61 | 19–3 | Madison Square Garden (4,876) New York, NY |
| February 27, 1954 | Manhattan | W 84–72 | 20–3 (5–0) | II Corps Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| March 3, 1954* | at Siena | L 60–67 | 20–4 | Albany Armory (3,000) Albany, NY |
| National Invitation Tournament |||||
| March 6, 1954* | vs. No. 20 Louisville First Round | W 60–55 | 21–4 | Madison Square Garden (16,259) New York, NY |
| March 9, 1954* | vs. No. 9 Holy Cross Quarterfinals | L 69–93 | 21–5 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||

## NBA draft

At the end of the season Henry Daubenschmidt was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 23rd overall pick.

## Awards

* Henry Daubenschmidt
       All-Metropolitan player by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association