Evening star., 1948-02-18
Hoyas' t3-Point Edge
Evaporafes as Rams
win in Final Seconds
By MerreII WhittIesey

It's a shame that only 572 persons
attended the Georgetown-Fordham
game at the Armory last night, be-
cause that means only that many
will be equipped to give an accurate
description of how a team could
blow a 1896 lead with 6 minutes to
go and lose the game, 51-50. 1t
happened to Georgetown.
A lonesome foul shot by Ray Cor
ley was all that separated George
town from a shutout in the last G
minutes of play, but to Georgetowns
credit it must be said that they did
not throw an incomplete forward
pass in those hectic minutes, they
completed every pass-to Ford
ham player.
The Hoyas have played several
teams that have pressed" them at
one time or another this season
(meaning checking close on both
ends of the court), including North
Carolina State, which played that
type ball the entire game, but Coach
Elmer Ripley's club still has to learn
how to get out of a press.
When Fordham, which played lit
tie like a team that had won 13 and
lost in the first 30-odd minutes,
finally started to press, it put wise
around the entire Georgetown Of
fense and the Hoya shots, when
Fordhafm was driving to its victory,
could be counted without going
past five.
Clever Strategy Works.
The Hoyas have some sad memo
ries of this season, marked by IA
defeats, but it's unlikely they'll ever
get over that one. The Hoyas were
playing fair-to- middlin' ball while
the Rams appeared disinterested
and when Danny Kraus bolted down
the floor for layup and made it
1896, nobody in the Armory thought
Fordham would come back.
But suddenly Johnny Bach threw
in three quick ones, AL Shiels tapped
one in and Gerry Smith converted a
foul toss, with Corley's foul shot
Georgetown's only counter With a
minute and As seconds to go, Corley
committed his fifth foul, but the
Hoyas still had a 50-45 edge.
But Bob Mulvihill, the Washing
tonian who is concluding brilliant
athletic career at Fordham, took
over at this point with some heady
basket ball. Scoreless from the floor
all night, Mulvihill finally slipped
in a one-hand shot. An intercepted
pass gave the Rams the ball again
and Mulvihill slipped in another.
Smith added a foul and with Is
seconds to go, Mulvihill asked for
time out.
When time was in, Mulvihill re-
tanned possession of the ball and
with every step he glanced at the
clock. It was apparent that the
Rams were going to strive for pos
session until time for a last shot,
and if it missed they'd still have
an extra period
Foul Shot Pays OFF.
Finally, with the 42 seconds SEEM
ingly an hour, Mulvihill ripped
pass to Bach. AS he pivoted to
shoot, Referee Dallas Shirley called
a foul on John Brown, who was
last-minute sub for the Hoyas to
give them added height. Bach
stepped up and converted with
3 seconds remaining. Kraus threw
a long pass down court to Frank
Alagia but the latter's desperate
shot was wide and Fordham was
home.
Ripley depended considerably
upon the Georgetown subs. but
while they contributed largely to the
lead, the youngsters remained in
there too long and the smarter
Fordham team outwitted them in
the clutch. The Hoyas particular
ly missed Ken Brown, the ball-hawk
of the first half, but after his third
foul he was withdrawn before the
half and he did not re-enter the
game until 1t was 50-45.
1t was a tough game for the
Hoyas to lose for Corley's sake. The
handsome young Staten Islander
had one of his best nights and &C
counted for 10 points before he lost
his touch. Dan Graham, who scored
most of his 13 points in the first
Is minutes, was top man for the
Rams with 49,
The Hoyas have a Saturday date
with George Washington at the
Armory. If the Colonials can bor-
row some Fordham uniforms they
might scare Georgetown out OF put
ting in an appearance.
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