TIGERFAN'S SPORTING DAILY : SATURDAY MARCH 24, 1947
For the second time in 3 years the Missouri Tigers are crowned NIT champions. The Tigers proved to be just too strong inside for a gutsy Charlotte 49ers squad. Brandon Sharpe had 9 rebounds and 1 blocked shot despite missing much of the game with foul trouble. In his place, backup center Hunter Moncrieffe was outstanding, grabbing 6 boards and getting three blocked shots to go with his 5 points in 16 minutes work. Senoir forward Mike Pankeman also picked up the slack in Sharpe's absence, getting 8 rebounds and a block. However, it was little used forward Korey Daniels who was named the game's MVP. Daniels was 8 of 11 from the field, added 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots to his 17 point outburst. During the season Daniels barely topped the 5 ppg mark.
Things looked good early for Charlotte. After Sharpe is sat down with 2 quick fouls a 7-0 run gave Charlotte 18-8 lead at 10 minute mark. Missouri recovered somewhat and by the half it is 31-27 Charlotte. Tom Thompson and Johnny *Bach have been outstanding for the 49ers in the first half as each has 7 points. Thompson also has added 5 rebounds. As for Missouri, Korey Daniels leads the way with 9 points but the absence of Sharpe for much of the first half has hurt the Tigers.
Some strong 49ers defense by Ethan Yamamoto and Thompson creates a couple of Missouri turnovers and before the half is 5 minutes old the Charlotte lead is stretched to 11 points. Next it is Missouri's turn to get hot and in particular guard Carl *Meinhold. Meinhold reels off 6 straight points and before you know it the Charlotte lead is down to two points at 50-48. With just over 5 minutes to play Charlotte worked it's way back to a 5 point lead thanks mainly to some sweet shooting from Johnny *Bach, who leads all scorers with 18 points so far. However, Bach would not score again in the game.
By the time we are down to 2 minutes to play Missouri's superior defense has allowed them to tie the game up. Sharpe dominated the boards during this 3 minute run and Meinhold hit a couple of 3 pointers. With 29 seconds to play Missouri goes up 68-65 on a baby hook from Moncrieffe that came after a Daniels offensive board. With 10 seconds remaining Thompson misses a 3-pointer to try and tie the game for Charlotte. Sharpe grabs the rebound and is immediately fouled. Sharpe hits both ends of the 1 and 1 to make it 70-65 Missouri. Yamamoto hit a 3-pointer for Charlotte at the buzzer and the game ends 70-68 Tigers.
Tonight, the attention shifts to Atlanta for the NCAA semi-finals. The nations top ranked team Kentucky meets number 2 Holy Cross in the opener while 4th ranked USC plays number 14 Georgetown in the nightcap.
Here are the alltime NIT title game results:
Code:
NIT FINAL GAME
1933 Notre Dame 97 Georgetown 81
1934 Syracuse 73 Kansas State 58
1935 USC 91 Maryland 41
1936 Cincinatti 83 Brown 81
1937 Oklahoma A&M 84 Mississippi St 73
1938 Utah 77 East Carolina 65
1939 Tulsa 87 The Citadel 69
1940 Cincinnati 84 Rhode Island 71
1941 LaSalle 80 Cincinnati 68
1942 Idaho 78 South Carolina 76
1943 Michigan State 82 Rutgers 73
1944 Vanderbilt 84 George Washington 82
1945 Missouri 83 Clemson 68
1946 Middle Tennessee State 83 St John's 59
1947 Missouri 70 Charlotte 68
BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
The Chicago Stags hammered the hometown Toronto Huskies 74-47 in the only game on the BAA schedule last night. The victory moves the Stags a game closer towards clinching the West Division title. Chicago is tied with St Louis in victories with 37 but the Stags have 5 games remaining compared to just 3 for the Bombers. St Louis and Chicago wind up the season with a head to head meeting in the Windy City on April 2nd.
Max Zaslofksy again led the way for Chicago last night, scoring 16 points. Don Carlson with 13 and Chuck Halbert at 12 also hit double digits. Toronto got 11 from Mike McCarron and 10 from Leo Mogus but they received little help from the rest of the roster. There are 4 games on the docket tomorrow including Chicago entertaining Cleveland.
Code:
EAST GP W L PCT GB
WSH 57 44 13 .772 x
PHI 57 36 21 .632 8.0
NY 55 28 27 .509 15.0
PROV 57 21 36 .368 23.0
BOS 55 19 36 .345 24.0
Tor 56 14 42 .250 29.5
WEST GP W L PCT GB
CHI 55 37 18 .673 x
STL 57 37 20 .649 1.0
CLE 55 31 24 .564 6.0
DET 56 21 35 .375 16.5
PIT 57 21 36 .368 17.0
FRIDAY'S RESULT
Chicago 74 Toronto 47
SATURDAY'S GAMES
Philadelphia at Providence
Cleveland at Chicago
Pittsburgh at Detroit
New York at Washington
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
SECOND PLACE AT STAKE AS NHL SEASON ENTERS FINAL WEEKEND
Despite the fact we know all 4 playoff participants there is still a little suspense as the NHL season winds down. The Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers are duking it out to see who claims second place and home ice advantage for the opening round of the playoffs. The Rangers presently lead the Canadiens by 2 points with each club having two games remaining.
Montreal entertains Chicago in one of two games on the slate tonight before the Canadiens take the train to Boston for a season-ending contest against the Bruins. The Rangers are in Toronto tonight to take on the Leafs before heading home to play first place Detroit in Sunday's finale.
Detroit is guaranteed 1st place while Toronto will definately finish fourth. The second place club gets the Leafs in the first round while the third place team must start with Detroit in the semi-finals.
Code:
Standings GP W L T PTS GF GA
Detroit 59 35 17 7 77 179 148
New York 58 29 22 7 65 151 143
Montreal 58 28 23 7 63 174 133
Toronto 58 25 28 5 55 159 151
Boston 59 22 29 8 52 144 153
Chicago 58 16 36 6 38 130 208
TONIGHT'S GAMES
Chicago at Montreal
New York at Toronto
Sunday March 25, 1947
Toronto at Detroit
Chicago at New York
Montreal at Boston
End of Regular Season
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The Cleveland Browns announced that they signed two players yesterday. 6'8" offensive guard Dave Conway, a 7th round pick out of Fresno State in 1941, agreed to a 2 year deal. Really just a depth move, Conway will likely not contend for a starting role. He has spent his entire NFL career with Baltimore and made 4 starts a year ago.
Former Minnesota Viking linebacker Chester Jordan signed a 4 year deal with the Browns. Jordan has played exclusively on special teams since being drafted from Texas Tech in the third round of the 1943 draft.
Neither player is expected to have much of an impact. Guard and outside linebacker remain the Browns two biggest needs even after the signings.