March 23

## 1920

**Syracuse Herald**- Beechnuts To Make Another Effort Here

Canajoharie Quintet Meets Local Basketeers On Saturday Night; Officials
Are Named; All-Syracuse Aggregation Meets Rochester Here Tomorrow Night

The Beechnut basketball team of Canajoharie, which in reality is the
Mohawk team of the New York State League, will play the All-Syracuse quintet at
the Armory court again next Saturday. Capt. Jack Nolls of the visiting
aggregation offered to play here on a guarantee of $400 if his team defeats
All-Syracuse and nothing if it should lose the game. The local management has
not yet seen fit to announce whether it accepted this proposition or induced
Nolls to come for a straight guarantee regardless of the success of the game.
Ortner of Rochester and Powell of Buffalo are to act as officials in charge of
the game. Nolls wanted two men chosen from Avery, Risley and Dollard to make up
the officials in charge of the game. Avery and Risley have had charge of games
in the State League. Risley has never appeared here but Avery and Dollard are
big favorites with local fans. The All-Syracuse team has another hard game on
its schedule Wednesday night when it meets the Central team of Rochester. The
Centrals defeated All-Syracuse in a one-sided game a short time ago in
Rochester. The Central team is accustomed to a large playing court and to
wooden banks for baskets and for that reason should give Syracuse a good game,
if not a defeat, on the local court.

## 1947

**Syracuse Herald Journal**- Royals Down Nats

Rochester Wins Third Tilt, 54-48; Take 2-1 Lead In Playoffs

Rochester—The Rochester Royals went ahead two games to one on the Syracuse Nationals in the National Professional League playoff series, by defeating the visitors, 54 to 48, in a nip-and-tuck battle here Saturday night. The rivals swing back into action Monday night at Syracuse. It was Al Cervi who provided the margin of victory, the star coming back in the final minutes after suffering an ankle injury to tally seven points in the last five minutes of play. He registered 13 points during the fray. Dolly King did a good job in taking Mike Novak out of his pivot play but the big Syracuse center scored five baskets and two fouls for 16 points to lead all players. The set shot accuracy of the Royals again was the big difference in the play, Rochester outscoring Syracuse from the floor, 22 to 18, but the Nats were more efficient in foul shooting, completing 12 to Rochester’s 10. Syracuse was handicapped in the late stages as Rizzo and Nelmark played the entire fourth period with four personals against them. Nelmark eventually fouled out in the final minute and Bob Nugent became the only Syracuse substitution of the game. The Royals also used but one extra with Al Negretti drawing the assignment. Two minutes and twenty seconds of the first period passed before Chaney scored the first points on a set and Davies evened it after which King and Rizzo matched baskets. Cervi put the Royals ahead, 6-5, at the five-minute mark. During the balance of the third period, the score was knotted at 10-10 and 12-12 after which a foul shot by Davies and a basket by Levane put Rochester ahead by three points. At the end of the period the Royals held a 17 to 14 advantage. Sensational set shooting by Bob Davies from all angles sent the crowd into an uproar as the second stanza got under way and Rochester increased its lead to seven points, before Chaney scored on a push shot. The driving Nats were not to be denied and a foul shot by Rizzo and two buckets by Novak and two by Nelmark while Holzman and Cervi were scoring fouls put Syracuse into a halftime 25 to 23 lead. The tempo of the scoring increased as the second half got under way with the Royals running the Nats into the ground and drawing costly fouls against Rizzo and Nelmark of the Nats. Each had four against them by the time the period came to a close. At one stage Rochester moved ahead by seven points at 39 to 32. Syracuse rallied again and a successful foul try by Rizzo and baskets by Novak and Sharkey found them trailing by only two points at 41 to 39 as the third period ended. After Holzman and Novak tallied buckets, Al Cervi hurt his ankle and was removed from the game with Negretti taking his place. Cervi was able to walk off the floor. Davies was injured the same way on the next play but stayed in the game and Cervi returned. The play again became deliberate with Rochester taking plenty of time before making a break for the basket and with this style pulled ahead as Al Cervi came through with two timely baskets for a 49 to 45 lead as the four minute mark was reached. The Royals went ahead 51 to 45 with three minutes to play before Sharkey scored for Syracuse, the old Syracuse nemesis in the person of Al Cervi then iced the game for Rochester with a foul and another basket to give Rochester a well earned 54 to 48 victory.

SYRACUSE: Chaney, f (5-1-11), Nugent, f (0-0-0), Rizzo, g (2-7-11), Novak, c (7-2-16), Sharkey, g (2-0-4), Nelmark, f (2-2-6) TOTALS (18-12-48). ROCHESTER: Davies, f (7-1-15), Cervi, f (4-5-13), King, c (3-0-6), Negretti, f (0-0-0), Holzman, g (3-2-8), Levane, g (5-2-12) TOTALS (22-10-54).

Score at halftime- Syracuse 25, Rochester 23. Removed for personal fouls- Nelmark, King. Referee- Ward. Umpire- Lowell.

## 1955

**Syracuse Herald Journal**- Nats Stage Special Drill To Improve Foul Shooting

Syracusans Lead Series With Boston; Win Opener By 10-Point Edge

One up with two to win is the position of the Syracuse Nats today after the 110-100 triumph over the Boston Celtics in the opener of the best three-in-five game rich Eastern Division playoff finals at the War Memorial last night. The home court advantage still remains with Syracuse with the second game scheduled here tomorrow before action shifts to Hubtown Saturday and possibly Sunday. Syracuse’s “K” men, John Kerr and George King provided the kayo punch to the Celts in the opening test. Kerr led scorers with 27 points, King was next in line with 21. Each was more accurate from the field than the charity stripe. Kerr sank 11 of 17 field goal attempts, but missed four of nine free throws. King was successful on eight of 15 from the floor, but missed six of 11 foul tosses. A third member of the “K” trio, Billy Kenville, played only six minutes but hit on three baskets in as many attempts and added one of two foul tries. The Nats were ordered to drill at the Memorial today, to improve free throw accuracy. In the first half last night, the Syracusans missed 10 of 28 tries and wound up with 28 conversions in 42 attempts. Boston also drilled this afternoon, after the Nats left the floor. Ability to control the boards aided the Nats. The Syracusans had a 61-49 rebounding advantage with Dolph Schayes high man with 15. Dolph also had seven assists and would up with 12 points. All Syracusans, with the exception of Wally Osterkorn, who played the final three minutes, tallied one or more field goals. Paul Seymour and Earl Lloyd were other Nats in double figures. Bob Cousy hampered by three first period personal fouls, still managed to show the 6,390 fans some fancy shooting as he tallied 17 points in 32 minutes of action. Bill Sharman paced the Celts attack with 20 markers. A 64-point second half featured the Syracuse triumph. Netting only 14 field goals in the first two periods, the Nats exploded for 15 goals in the third period to break from a 46-43 halftime advantage into a commanding 83-70 lead. Ker produced 10 points and King eight in the big third quarter. With less than two minutes remaining Syracuse led by 17 points at 107-90. In the first quarter which saw the score tied six times and Boston in front on three occasions, the Nats managed to pull in front 25-22, taking advantage of three penalty shots assessed against the Celts. Both clubs missed numerous opportunities in the second period, but the Nats were particularly inept from the free throw line, giving Boston the opportunity to stay in the running.

BOSTON: Ramsey (3-2-8), Brannum (7-1-15), Barksdale (3-7-13), Morrison (0-0-0), Macauley (5-4-14), Nichols (2-4-8), Cousy (6-5-17), Sharman (7-6-20), Palazzi (1-0-2), Scolari (1-1-3) TOTALS (35-30-100). SYRACUSE: Schayes (4-4-12), Rocha (1-5-7), Lloyd (4-3-11), Kerr (11-5-27), Tucker (1-2-4), Seymour (5-3-13), King (8-5-21), Farley (4-0-8), Kenville (3-1-7), Osterkorn (0-0-0) TOTALS (41-28-110).

In The Dressing Rooms After Game Was Over

Excitement gripped the Syracuse dressing room following the triumph over the Celtics, but Boston players were quiet. Johnny Kerr greeted his mates, shouting: “That’s the first one, gang, there’s only two to go now.” Paul Seymour announced: “King’s the guy who did it, but did you see the way Dolph cleared those boards?” Coach Al Cervi interrupted with a reminder: “This thing’s not in the bag yet. Hustle and defense is needed, fellows, don’t forget it. Practice tomorrow at 2:30, even if you only shoot fouls and you are sure going to do that.” Earl Lloyd’s first reaction was: “Boy, we sure were a team tonight.” The Boston side was much different with the usual griping at officials expected after a loss. “They call Barksdale for charging and then give Schayes two shots when he does the same thing on the other end,” said Red Auerbach. He added: “King must have had his best night of the year. We set up a defense to stop Seymour and Schayes and then King wallops us.” Cousy, usually the center of attraction to the group of nine Boston writers who accompanied the team, was left strangely to himself. He sat quietly and then headed for the shower, remarking: “We aren’t out of this yet, Thursday will be a different story.” Billy Kenville told of an amusing incident in the final seconds. “I had the ball near mid-court and Scolari was guarding me. Suddenly he said, ‘shoot Billy, shoot.’ I threw the ball to Wally and replied, do you think I’m whacky, I’ve got three for three and I’m not going to ruin that percentage.”