TIGERFAN'S SPORTING DAILY : THURSDAY MARCH 29, 1947
STAGS AND BOMBERS BOTH LOSE. BAA WEST DIVISION RACE GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE
The Chicago Stags and St Louis Bombers both missed out on an opportunity to turn the heat up on each other. With just 4 days remaining in the regular season the two clubs remain seperated by a half game atop the West Division standings.
Chicago fell 64-55 in Washington against their possible first round playoff opponents. Freddie Scolari had 16 points to lead the Capitols attack. In Detroit, St Louis let one get away against the Cougars, dropping a 50-47 game in overtime. Stan Miasek of the Cougars led all scorers with 16 points.
The Stags have two games remaining: at Philadelphia tonight and in Providence on Saturday while the Bombers will play their final game of the season at home to Boston on Saturday. If the two clubs are tied at the end of the regular season they will play a 1-game playoff in Chicago on Monday. The Stags won a coin toss yesterday to determine who would host the potential 1 game playoff. The division winner plays a best of 7 series against the East Division leader with the winner of that series advancing directly to the league final. The second place team from the east will play a best-of-3 series with the 3rd place team from the west and vice versa. The winners of those two series will meet in a best-of-3 to determine the second participant in the best of seven league final.
In other action last night Coulby Gunther had 16 points to pace Pittsburgh past Boston 53-41 and New York dropped Providence 72-59.
Code:
EAST GP W L PCT GB
WSH 59 46 13 .780 x
PHI 58 37 21 .638 8.5
NY 58 30 28 .517 15.5
PROV 59 21 38 .356 25.0
BOS 58 19 39 .328 26.5
Tor 57 14 43 .246 31.0
WEST GP W L PCT GB
CHI 58 38 20 .655 x
STL 59 38 21 .644 0.5
CLE 58 33 25 .569 5.0
DET 59 23 36 .390 15.5
PIT 60 23 37 .383 16.0
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
Washington 64 Chicago 55
Detroit 50 St Louis 47 (ot)
Pittsburgh 53 Boston 41
New York 72 Providence 59
TONIGHT'S GAME
Chicago at Philadelphia
PLAYOFF MATCHUPS
SEMI FINAL (best of 7)
Washington vs West first place
QUARTER FINALS (best of 3)
Philadelphia vs Cleveland
West second place vs New York
COLLEGE BASKETBALL ALL-AMERICANS NAMED
A pair of big men from the Big 10 conference head the college basketball All-America team. Illinois power forward Ray *Kuka, the national player of the year, and Iowa center Ray *Ellefson are the Big 10 representatives on the year end all-star team. Kuka, a 6'9" senior averaged 17.9 ppg and 14.8 rebounds. Ellefson, also 6'9", led the Big 10 in rebounds with 15.9 per game and scored at a 15.4 clip. He is the only junior on the 5-man team.
Other All-Americans include Jeremiah Brooks, a forward from Harvard who, including post-season, averaged 19.5 ppg, tops in the nation. The guards are Keena Marsh from Providence who had 11.1 ppg and 8.1 assists, and Mel *Thurston of Wyoming. The shooting guard had 16.0 ppg for the Cowboys.
Here are the All-Americans
Keena Marsh Providence
Mel *Thurston Wyoming
Jeremiah Brooks Harvard
Ray *Kuka Illinois
Ray *Ellefson Iowa
The National Freshman team is as follows:
PG Bob *Cousy Holy Cross 10.7 ppg, 8.2 apg
SG Novack Dyde Utah 9.2 ppg, 6.3 apg
SF Michael Quarry Syracuse 11.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg
PF Jack *Shelton Oklahoma A&M 10.1 ppg, 2.1 bpg, 10.4 rpg
C Ryan Gardner Notre Dame 14.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg
Gardner was named the Freshman player of the year.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE OFFSEASON NOTES
PATTON TO STAY WITH 49ERS
One of the best young offensive linemen in the National Football League has agreed to a 6 year deal that will keep him with the team that originally drafted him. 4th year pro Eric Patton resigned with the San Francisco 49ers, the club announced today. The 330 lb guard from Missouri has started every game for the Niners in each of his three seasons. A third round pick, he has developed into an outstanding run blocker. However, like the rest of the San Francisco offensive line, his pass protection skills need work. The Niners also signed long-time Miami backup center Chris Francis to add depth.
Rams fans can breathe a sigh of relief after Trey Montgomery agreed to resign with the club. Montgomery, a third round pick out of Stanford in 1944, had 80 tackles for St Louis a year ago. The OLB is entering his 4th NFL season.
Dallas resigned starting defensive tackle Wade Harris to a 4 year contract. The former Mississippi stand-out started all 16 games for the Cowboys a year ago. Denver signed former Jacksonville offensive tackle Josh Keithley to a 2 year deal. Keithley started 8 games for the Jags a year ago and will get a chance to win a starting assignment in Denver. However, the Broncos will still be looking to upgrade at the position.
BOXING NEWS
Argentine heavyweight champ Alberto Santiago Lovell made his first appearance in North America, stopping Tami Mauriello of New York with a 4th round knockout. The win improves Lovell's record to 20-7-1 and he is hoping to fight a top 10 heavyweight during the summer. For Mauriello, who nearly stole the heavyweight title from Joe Louis last September, it appears his career is near it's end. Mauriello is 16-7-1 but has been knocked out early in each of his last 3 bouts. On the same card, 18 year old Dave Davey won his professional debut with a majority decision over Johnny Shkor and Jesse Hall carded a unanimous decision against Orlando Ott. Middleweight Rocky Graziano won his bout with littleknown Ben Brown on a 8th round knockout. Graziano is 32-15-1 in his career and was coming off of losses to Tony Zale (prior to Zale winning the title from Jake LaMotta) and Charley Fusari.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
The NHL semi-finals resume tonight with 2 games. In Detroit, the Red Wings are looking to take a 2-0 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens. Detroit won Tuesday series opener 4-2 on the strength of a 3 assist night from Billy Taylor and some strong goaltending from Harry Lumley.
The other series, pitting the second place Rangers against fourth place Toronto, opens tonight at Madison Square Garden.