1953–54 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team

The 1953–1954 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team represented St. Francis College during the 1953–54 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Daniel Lynch, who was in his sixth year at the helm of the St. Francis Terriers.^[1] The team was a member of the Metropolitan New York Conference and played their home games at the Bulter Street Gymnasium in their Cobble Hill, Brooklyn campus and at the II Corps Artillery Armory in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

1953–54 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball
Metropolitan New York Conference Regular Season Champions
NIT Quarterfinals vs. Holy Cross, L 69–93
Conference	Metropolitan New York Conference
Record	21–5 (5–0 MTNY)
Head coach	Daniel Lynch (6th season)
Home arena	Butler Street Gymnasium II Corps Artillery Armory
Seasons ← 1952–53 1954–55 →

1953–54 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
St. Francis (NY)	5	–	0		1.000			23	–	5		.821
Fordham	3	–	1		.750			18	–	6		.750
Manhattan	3	–	3		.500			15	–	11		.577
NYU	2	–	2		.500			9	–	9		.500
St. John's	2	–	3		.400			9	–	11		.450
CCNY	2	–	4		.333			10	–	8		.556
Brooklyn	0	–	4		.000			6	–	11		.353
Rankings from AP Poll

During the 1953–54 season the Terriers won their first regular season conference championship and participated in their first National Invitational Tournament reaching the Quarterfinals. Their participation in the NIT was more impressive considering they had the smallest student body of all schools ever selected and were the only school participating from the NYC area that year.^[2] The Terries first round victory over 20th ranked Louisville was considered a notable upset.^[3] The 1953–54 season also stands as the Terriers best record of all time.

Roster

1953–54 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C Hank Daubenschmidt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Sr Bronx, NY F Jack Walsh (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Sr George Searing 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — Sr Jerry McMurrer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Sr G Frank Dentico 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) — Jr G Leo Keegan 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) — Jr Elliott Press 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Jr Ed Crofton — — So Jack Fitzgerald — — So Dan Mannix — — So F Dan Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So G Jim Murphy 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — So C Walter Adamushko 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Fr Thomas Jefferson High School Brooklyn, NY	Head coach Daniel Lynch (St. Francis '38) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 21, 1953*	Alumni	W 60–55[4]	1–0	Butler Street Gymnasium  Brooklyn, NY
November 23, 1953*	Fort Monmouth	W 83–60[5]	2–0	Butler Street Gymnasium  Brooklyn, NY
November 25, 1953*	Equatable Life	W 68–57[6]	3–0	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
Regular Season
November 28, 1953*	vs. Pace	W 81–61	1–0
December 2, 1953*	Loyola (Baltimore)	W 74–58[7]	2–0	II Corps Armory (1,500) Brooklyn, NY
December 5, 1953*	Mount St. Mary's	W 74–54	3–0	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
December 12, 1953*	Providence	W 85–63[8]	4–0	II Corps Armory (2,200) Brooklyn, NY
December 17, 1953* 7:45 pm	vs. No. 7 Western Kentucky	L 55–78[9]	4–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
December 19, 1953*	at Seton Hall	L 65–86[10]	4–2	Walsh Gymnasium  South Orange, NJ
December 31, 1953*	vs. South Carolina All-American City Basketball Tournament First Round	W 58–55[11]	5–2	Owensboro Sports Center  Owensboro, KY
January 1, 1954*	at Kentucky Wesleyan All-American City Basketball Tournament Second Round	L 69–71[12]	5–3	Owensboro Sports Center  Owensboro, KY
January 2, 1954*	vs. Evansville All-American City Basketball Tournament 3rd Place Game	W 84–76[13]	6–3	Owensboro Sports Center  Owensboro, KY
January 6, 1954	Fordham	W 53–49[14]	7–3 (1–0)	II Corps Armory (3,000) Brooklyn, NY
January 9, 1954*	Panzer College	W 89–76[15]	8–3	Butler Street Gymnasium  Brooklyn, NY
January 13, 1954*	Saint Peter's	W 85–66[16]	9–3	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
January 15, 1954*	at Villanova	W 72–62[17]	10–3	Villanova Field House  Villanova, PA
January 23, 1954*	Georgetown	W 77–52[18]	11–3	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
January 28, 1954	at St. John's	W 67–48[19]	12–3 (2–0)	DeGray Gymnasium  Brooklyn, NY
February 3, 1954*	Siena	W 51–47[20]	13–3	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
February 6, 1954*	Adelphi	W 70–59[21]	14–3	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
February 10, 1954*	Temple	W 71–62[22]	15–3	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
February 13, 1954*	at Queens College	W 75–74[23]	16–3	Fitzgerald Gymnasium  Flushing, NY
February 17, 1954	CCNY	W 71–51[24]	17–3 (3–0)	II Corps Armory (2,500) Brooklyn, NY
February 22, 1954	at Brooklyn College	W 82–49[25]	18–3 (4–0)	Roosevelt Gymnasium  Brooklyn, NY
February 25, 1954* 7:45 pm	vs. Iona	W 69–61[26]	19–3	Madison Square Garden (4,876) New York, NY
February 27, 1954	Manhattan	W 84–72[27]	20–3 (5–0)	II Corps Armory  Brooklyn, NY
March 3, 1954*	at Siena	L 60–67[28]	20–4	Albany Armory (3,000) Albany, NY
National Invitation Tournament
March 6, 1954*	vs. No. 20 Louisville First Round	W 60–55[3]	21–4	Madison Square Garden (16,259) New York, NY
March 9, 1954*	vs. No. 9 Holy Cross Quarterfinals	L 69–93[29]	21–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

NBA draft

At the end of the season Henry Daubenschmidt was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 23rd overall pick.

Awards

• Henry Daubenschmidt

All-Metropolitan player by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association