6 February 1955

**Syracuse Herald American**- Nats End Slump; Beat Rochester, 94-88

Knicks In Game Here Tonight; Seymour Leads With 22 Points

Rochester- The Syracuse Nats finally shook off a losing streak that had
reached four straight when they toppled the Rochester Royals, 94-88, at
Edgerton Park Arena here last night. Tonight the Nats who are still tied for
the Eastern Division loop lead battle the New York Knicks at the War Memorial
court in Syracuse. The Nats and Knicks each have won four games in their series
this year and it will mark Harry Gallatin’s 499th game as a New
Yorker. In beating the Royals the Nats played most of the way with only six men
as neither Jim Tucker nor Dick Farley were pressed into service.
Billy Kenville
played only a few minutes in the opening period. Paul Seymour was the top man
in Nat point production with 22 and it was his play in the second period that
started the Cervimen in a rally that brought the team from a five point deficit
into a lead they never surrendered. After trailing throughout most of the first
period which wound up with the Royals in front 20-15 the Nats attack began to
function and by the end of the half the Syracusans were in front 44-39. The
lead stretched to ten points three times in the third period and with five
minutes to play the Syracuse team had a commanding 13 point bulge at 82-69. In
addition to Seymour the Nats had five other men in double figures and all of
them had five or more baskets in the well balanced attack which was truly a
team triumph. In a very slow start Syracuse took a 4-0 lead but couldn’t stand
prosperity once Rochester shook off its scoring dearth on Jack Coleman’s bucket
at the four-minute mark. The Royals finally caught up at 4-4 and went ahead at
7-6 with six minutes gone. The Nats trailed the balance of the period which
wound up 20-15. Syracuse hit on only one of the six free throws in the quarter.
During the second period the Nats began to find the range and after pulling up
to a 31-27 deficit ran off 11 straight points to take a 38-31 advantage. At
halftime the Syracusans were still in front 44-39. Paul Seymour netted nine
points in the stanza and Red Rocha added eight. The Nat rally came as Arnie
Risen was forced to the bench with three personal fouls.

ROCHESTER: Davies (11-2-24), Coleman (5-1-11), Spears (1-4-6), Marshall
(4-3-11), Risen (2-1-5), Spoelstra (3-3-9), Wanzer (4-2-10), McMahon (2-0-4),
Henriksen (2-2-6), Christensen (2-0-4) TOTALS (35-18-88). SYRACUSE: Schayes
(6-2-14), Kenville (0-0-0), Rocha (7-4-18), Lloyd (5-2-12), Seymour (7-8-22),
King (6-4-16), Kerr (5-2-12) TOTALS (36-22-94).

Score at halftime- Syracuse 44, Rochester
29. Officials- Borgia and Eisenstein.

From Highlighting Sports By Jack Slattery

“It’s pro ball for me and that’s all.” A few
years ago Bob Krause, sportswriter for this newspaper, was working on a
newspaper in Pekin, Ill., and he interviewed a barnstorming team of basketball
players comprised of seniors from the University of Illinois. Krause asked each
of them his plans for the future. He remembered Osterkorn’s answer, “It’s pro
ball for me and that’s all.” Wally, who was, while at Illinois, the best
rebounder in the Big Ten, where basketball is played in the ruggedest fashion,
has more than lived up to the promise he made to himself. The six-five
215-pounder earned himself the name if “The Ox” and with good reason. Under the
hoop he’s that and more. His absence due to injury is reflected on the loss side
of the ledger in the Nats’ record book. Wally turned in his greatest season for
Al Cervi’s Nats last year, his third in the National Basketball Association,
when he missed but two games despite a painful thigh injury. He averaged 8.8
points per game in the regular season and upped that average to 11 in the
postseason playoffs in which he played only 17 minutes less than the iron man
of the club, Paul Seymour. But Wally’s value to the team doesn’t come in the
points scored column. It is under the board where the going is tough that
Wally’s weight is felt. The big guy likes it rough and the tougher the better.
A year ago one coach of an N.B.A. team grabbed my arm after a game and said,
“C’mere, I wanta talk to you.” He opened the conversation, “What’s a matter
with this guy Osterkorn?” when he saw the puzzled look on my face he said, “Why
my guy (and he said the name of his star player) was driving through the middle
and this guy climbs all over him. As they are getting up off the floor this guy
Osterkorn tells my guy, ‘Come this way again ya bum and I’ll murder you’.” It’s
a true story and the coach was hopping mad. But he’s just enough of a battler
himself to love to have a couple of Osterkorns on his team.

Risked His Leg To Play

This fall when the Nats were practicing at Manlius I chatted with Al
Cervi and discussed the merits of various rookies and the condition of several
of the returning veterans. When we got to Osterkorn and his injured leg, Cervi
shook his head. “That guy,” he said, “that guy amazes me. Do you realize that
he might have lost the use of his leg and even risked losing the leg itself
last year when he played with it so badly injured he could hardly walk some
times? He’s a demon for work. And boy, does he give those big men a bad time
around the boards.” Later in the season Wally watched a Boston-Syracuse game
via television from his hospital bed. In the game there was one of those
customary Nats-Celtics battles. Wally was asked for a comment on the fight
because usually he was in the center of such frays. The Ox, with reference to
the fight, replied succinctly, “There were too many spectators,” his complaint-
not enough fighters. It’s no wonder at all then that Osterkorn should be the
object of the fans’ affection Thursday night when they turn out for Wally
Osterkorn Night. A portion of the money paid for each ticket purchased that
night will be turned over to Osterkorn just as a small token of the fans’
appreciation for the unselfish and wholehearted brand of basketball Wally has
given the Nats in his three years here. Wally has been working out daily at the
Y.M.C.A at about 10 A.M. he reports he is coming along slowly but is confident
he will be able to help the Nats before the season comes to a close. Wally has
been somewhat amazed at the reception the fans given him and gratified as well.
He never knew so many fans took a personal interest in the individual players.
The warmth the fans have reflected has encouraged Osterkorn more than ever to
make Syracuse his home after his career as a basketballer has come to a close.