# 1948–49 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team

The 1948–49 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team represented St. Francis College during the 1948–49 NCAA men's basketball season. The team was coached by Daniel Lynch, who was in his first year at the helm of the St. Francis Terriers. The team was a member of the Metropolitan New York Conference and hosted their home games at the 14th Regiment Armory.
The 1948–49 Terriers became the first team in the New York City area to have a game televised, they defeated Seton Hall in its inaugural telecast on WPIX. St. Francis finished the season at 20–13 overall and 2–2 in conference play. They also participated in their second National Catholic Invitation Tournament, where they lost in the finals to Regis 47–51.
Tom Gallagher scored 496 points during the season, which was reported to be new record for a player from the New York Metropolitan Area. In addition, Tom Gallagher, Tom O'Connor, and Paul Labanowski were named to the National Catholic Invitation Tournament All-Tournament Team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season |||||
| December 3, 1948* | American | W 66–47 | 1–0 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| December 6, 1948* | at John Marshall | W 69–53 | 2–0 | |
| December 8, 1948* | at Villanova | L 48–64 | 2–1 | (1,800) Villanova, PA |
| December 10, 1948 | Manhattan | L 52–56 | 2–2 (0–1) | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| December 13, 1948* | at Paterson State Teachers | W 75–59 | 3–2 | Paterson Armory Paterson, NJ |
| December 15, 1948* | Siena | W 43–33 | 4–2 | 14th Regiment Armory (1,500) Brooklyn, NY |
| December 17, 1948* | Geneva | W 66–51 | 5–2 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| December 22, 1948* | at Iona | W 62–57 | 6–2 | Westchester County Center (2,000) White Plains, NY |
| December 29, 1948* | at NY Athletic Club | L 62–65 | 6–3 | |
| January 5, 1949* | at Brooklyn College | W 55–45 | 7–3 (1–1) | Roosevelt Gymnasium (800) Brooklyn, NY |
| January 8, 1949* | vs. Boston College | W 63–52 | 8–3 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| January 10, 1949* | at Duquesne | L 62–75 | 8–4 | Duquesne Gardens Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 12, 1949* | at Cincinnati | L 48–65 | 8–5 | Cincinnati Music Hall Cincinnati, OH |
| January 15, 1949* | vs. Adelphi | W 78–56 | 9–5 | Garden City, NY |
| January 22, 1949* | at Fairfield | W 66–42 | 10–5 | Bridgeport, CT |
| January 26, 1949* | vs. Providence | W 73–56 | 11–5 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| January 29, 1949* | vs. Brooklyn Polytech | W 61–48 | 12–5 | Brooklyn Central YMCA Brooklyn, NY |
| February 1, 1949* | at Queens | W 66–51 | 13–5 | Forest Hills High School Gymnasium Forest Hills, NY |
| February 4, 1949* WPIX | vs. Seton Hall | W 69–58 | 14–5 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| February 9, 1949 | at Fordham | W 56–39 | 15–5 (2–1) | Rose Hill Gymnasium (3,200) Bronx, NY |
| February 11, 1949* | Loyola (Baltimore) | L 64–66 | 15–6 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| February 12, 1949* | vs. Rutgers (Newark) | W 55–53 | 16–6 | Newark Armory Newark, NJ |
| February 16, 1949* | Iona | W 66–62 | 17–6 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| February 18, 1949* | Cincinnati | L 62–91 | 17–7 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| February 22, 1949* | at St. Bonaventure | L 33–54 | 17–8 | Olean, NY |
| February 24, 1949* | at Canisius | L 46–51 | 17–9 | Memorial Auditorium (6,715) Buffalo, NY |
| February 26, 1949* | at Niagara | L 56–66 | 17–10 | Gallagher Center Lewiston, NY |
| March 2, 1949* | Creighton | W 50–43 | 18–10 | 14th Regiment Armory Brooklyn, NY |
| March 4, 1949 | St. John's | L 43–57 | 18–11 (2–2) | 14th Regiment Armory (3,000) Brooklyn, NY |
| Benefit Games |||||
| March 6, 1949 | Lincoln Caseys National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis | W 71–63 | | Sunnyside Garden (2,000) |
| March 12, 1949 | Siena | W 54–50 | | (5,500) Albany, NY |
| National Catholic Invitation Tournament |||||
| March 23, 1949* | vs. St. Norbert's First Round | W 61–53 | 19–11 | Denver, CO |
| March 24, 1949* | vs. St. Thomas Second Round | W 59–42 | 20–11 | Denver, CO |
| March 25, 1949* | vs. St. Benedict's Semifinals | W 69–40 | 21–11 | Denver, CO |
| March 26, 1949* 11:00 pm | at Regis Finals | L 47–51 | 21–12 | Denver, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||

## National Catholic Invitation Tournament

In 1949, the Terriers were invited to participate in the first annual National Catholic Invitation Tournament, to take place in Denver, Colorado. Gallagher was awarded a trophy as the Tournaments outstanding player.
| First Round March 23 | First Round March 23 | First Round March 23 | Quarterfinals March 24 | Quarterfinals March 24 | Quarterfinals March 24 | Semifinals March 25 | Semifinals March 25 | Semifinals March 25 | Finals March 26 | Finals March 26 | Finals March 26 |
| | St. Francis (NY) | 61 | | | | | | | | | |
| | St. Norbert's | 53 | | St. Francis (NY) | 59 | | | | | | |
| 3 | St. Thomas | 69 | 3 | St. Thomas | 42 | | | | | | |
| | St. Edward's | 32 | | | | | St. Francis (NY) | 69 | | | |
| | St. Benedict's | 60 | | | | | St. Benedict's | 40 | | | |
| | Siena | 46 | | St. Benedict's | 59 | | | | | | |
| | Dayton | 53 | | Dayton | 55 | | | | | | |
| | Loras | 52 | | | | | | | | St. Francis (NY) | 47 |
| 2 | Regis | 63 | | | | | | | 2 | Regis | 51 |
| | Iona | 51 | 2 | Regis | 66 | | | |
| | Saint Francis (PA) | 57 | | Saint Francis (PA) | 49 | | | |
| | Mount St. Mary's | 51 | | | | 2 | Regis | 67 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | Loyola (MD) | 75 | | | | | Loyola (MD) | 60 |
| | St. Ambrose | 58 | | Loyola (MD) | 53 | | | | | Loyola (MD) | 71 |
| 4 | Gonzaga | 49 | 4 | Gonzaga | 51 | | | | | St. Benedict's | 70 |
| | St. Bonaventure | 40 | | | | | | | | | |

## NBA draft

At the end of the season Tom Gallagher was selected with the 45th overall pick by the Baltimore Bullets.