Evening star., 1949-12-08
A. u. Five Gains
Prestige Despite
Loss 10 Hoyas
FIoshy Eagles Bow
After Leod Changes
Hands l6 Times
by MerreII WhittIesey

By MerreII WhittIesey
A not-too-satisfactory crowd of
2,308 turned out to see George
town play American University in
Uline Arena last night-but the
folks who were there will be back,
and bring somebody with them, if
those teams ever meet again.
Georgetown won. and deserved
to. 68-63, by scoring the last
S points of the ball game, after
the lead had changed hands Is
times and the score had been
tied on a dozen occasions.
It is doubtful that any Uline
Arena crowd ever made more
noise than the udent-dominated
gathering that cheered itself
hoarse during the mad basket
or-basket struggle of the second
half. It was one of the finest
college basketball performances
here in years.
This was the game American
University wanted to win in its
bid for more games with the
Hoyas, and games with George
Washington and Maryland. The
Eagles lost. but in defeat Ger
tainly upped their prestige. It
will be a hollow claim to the city
title for any team that doesn't
meet the Eagles. American u.
should be material for some Of
the college uble-header pro-
grams here next season.
Hoyas Freeze Ball.
Until the last two minutes
American stuck to its zone defense,
swapping out only when George
town took the lead near the end
and made motions toward freezing
the ball. But even. at .man-for-
man the Eagles could not crack
the Hoyas' expert ball-handling
which enabled Georgetown to re-
tain possession and protect its
slender margin.
The key play of the game came
with Georgetown leading $3.50
with a little more than 2 minutes
to play and every person in Uline
Arena on his feet. The Hoyas
were in scoring territory and
Tommy O'Keefe made a motion as
if to shoot. But instead he whipped
"a backward bounce pass into the
hands of Italo Ablondi. who
caught the ball and shot in a
single motion. His only field goal
of the night swished the cords to
give Georgetown its winning
margin. " ~
The Hoyae students mobbed Big
John Mazziotta after the game for
1T was the slenderized junior. now
just a trif1e over 200 pounds. who
played his finest game in a
Georgetown uniform. made 20
points and was a big help off the
backboards.
Norris Is Big Help.
Coach Buddy O'Grady Of the
Hoyas said he thought the turn
ing point came late in the game
when Sophomore John Norris,
6-foot-5, re-entered the contest to
give the equally tall Mazziotta
help off the backboards. Amer
ican U. grabbed most of the re-
bounds in the first half and early
in the second. but the Eagles
were weary and didn't have the
spring to get up high late in the
game. Coach Staff Cassell stuck
to his starting lineup until nine
minutes of the second half had
Ipassed and made only one sub
lstitution-Fred Karner-until the
last two minutes.
O'Grady also had praise for
Frank Alagia, a 12-point scorer
and ball hound. who kept the
Hoyas on the move.
O'Grady admitted he had un-
derrated Ronnie Garshag. Amer
ican University's 6-foot-6 center
with the unstoppable (when it's
working) fade-away hook shot.
Garshag poured in "a points, most
of them moving away from the
basket and hooking the ball over
Mazziotta's outstretched hands.
Ishman a StandOut.
Leroy. Ishman, the tousle-
haired, powerful rebound artist of
1.-The Eagles, was the outstanding
player in the first half, but his
fast pace took toll and he was
tired in the second half. Ed Moi
fatt played excellent ball for the
Eagles, a number of times giving
them a lift.
The game couldn't have been
much closer. It was Sd for A. U.
after slow first five minutes
and 1919 for the Hoyas at 10. At
Is minutes it was 17-16 A. U.
and the Eagles led, 27-25, at the
half. At Is minutes it was 1887.
and then Georgetown led, 51-48,
(See BASKETBALL, Page C-3)