1936–37 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

The 1936–37 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1936–37 NCAA college basketball season. Fred Mesmer coached it in his sixth season as head coach.[2] The team was a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference (EIC) and played its home games at Tech Gymnasium on the campus of McKinley Technical High School in Washington, D.C.[3] The team finished with a record of 9-8 overall, 3-7 in the EIC.[4]

1936–37 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceEastern Intercollegiate Conference
Record9–8 (3-7 EIC)
Head coach
CaptainMike Petrosky (1st year)
Home arenaTech Gymnasium
Seasons
1936–37 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Temple 7 3   .700 17 6   .739
Pittsburgh 7 3   .700 14 7   .667
Penn State 6 4   .600 10 7   .588
Carnegie Tech 4 6   .400 9 11   .450
Georgetown 3 7   .300 9 8   .529
West Virginia 3 7   .300 9 14   .391
† Postseason conference championship playoff game winner
As of end of 1936-37 season[1]

Season recap

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Sophomore guard Ed Kurtyka and sophomore forward Joe Murphy joined the team this season. Georgetown made its first-ever visit to Madison Square Garden to play New York University in the third game of the season, and Murphy scored 11 points in the first of 17 games in which he would score in double figures during his 65-game collegiate career. Kurtyka led the team in scoring for the season, while Murphy averaged 4.9 points per game and finished the year second-highest in scoring behind Kurtyka.[5]

Junior forward Harry Bassin saw less playing time than he had the previous season and averaged a career-low 4.0 points per game, but he nonetheless was an important force in games and scored a season-high 12 points against Syracuse in a Georgetown victory that ended a multi-year Syracuse home winning streak.[6] Junior forward and team captain Mike Petrosky averaged a career-low 4.3 points per game for the season, but put in a strong defensive and rebounding performance.[7]

Despite playing only six home games all season, the 1936-37 Hoyas finished with a record of 9-8, only the second winning season for Georgetown in the last seven. In non-conference games they had gone 6-1, but they had struggled in EIC games, finishing with a conference record of 3-7. The 1936-37 squad was the second and last of Mesmer's teams to finish with an overall winning record.[2]

Roster

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Sources[5][7][8][9]

Junior guard Tom Nolan would go on to serve as Georgetown's head basketball coach from 1956 to 1960, and as the school's baseball coach until the end of the 1978 season.[8]

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
3 Joe Murphy 6'0" N/A F So. West New York, NJ, U.S. Memorial HS
51 Karl Nau N/A N/A G Sr. Washington, DC, U.S. Central HS
52 Don Gibeau N/A N/A G Sr. Syracuse, NY, U.S. Christian Brothers Academ
53 Ed Kurtyka N/A N/A G So. Washington, DC, U.S. Eastern HS
54 Harry Bertrand N/A N/A F Jr. N/A N/A
55 Mario Gregorio 5'8" N/A G Jr. Washington, DC, U.S. Central HS
80 Tom Nolan N/A N/A F Jr. Washington, DC, U.S. Eastern HS
81 Johnny Frank N/A N/A F Jr. Tuckahoe, NY, U.S. Horace Greeley HS
82 Carroll Shore N/A N/A G So. Washington, DC, U.S. Central HS
83 Ben Zola N/A N/A G Sr. Washington, DC, U.S. Eastern HS
84 Harry Bassin N/A N/A G Jr. Washington, DC, U.S. Eastern HS
85 Mike Petrosky 6'4" N/A C Jr. New London, CT, U.S. Bulkeley HS

1936–37 schedule and results

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Sources[10][11][12][13]

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Mon., Dec. 14, 1936*
no, no
Western Maryland W 46–16  1-0
Tech Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Dec. 16, 1936*
no, no
at Princeton W 25–22  2-0
University Gymnasium 
Princeton, NJ
Wed., Dec. 30, 1936*
no, no
at New York University W 46–40  3-0
Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
Wed., Jan. 6, 1937
no, no
at Carnegie Tech L 17–25  3-1
(0-1)
Skibo Gymnasium 
Pittsburgh, PA
Thu., Jan. 7, 1937
no, no
at West Virginia L 32–41  3-2
(0-2)
WVU Field House 
Morgantown, WV
Wed., Jan. 13, 1937
no, no
at Temple L 27–29  3-3
(0-3)
Mitten Hall 
Philadelphia, PA
Wed., Jan. 20, 1937
no, no
Pittsburgh W 30–27  4-3
(1-3)
Tech Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Mon., Feb. 1, 1937
no, no
Temple W 49–44  5-3
(2-3)
Tech Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Mon., Feb. 8, 1937
no, no
West Virginia W 51–23  6-3
(3-3)
Tech Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Feb. 10, 1937*
no, no
at Army W 40–37  7-3
Hayes Gymnasium 
West Point, NY
Thu., Feb. 11, 1937*
no, no
at Yale L 26–48  7-4
Payne Whitney Gymnasium 
New Haven, CT
Sat., Feb. 13, 1937*
no, no
at Syracuse W 45–36  8-4
Archbold Gymnasium 
Syracuse, NY
Fri., Feb. 19, 1937
no, no
Carnegie Tech L 25–32  8-5
(3-4)
Tech Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 20, 1937*
no, no
at Maryland W 37–29  9-5
Ritchie Coliseum 
College Park, MD
Tue., Mar. 2, 1937
no, no
at Pittsburgh L 22–39  9-6
(3-5)
Pitt Pavilion 
Pittsburgh, PA
Wed., Mar. 3, 1937
no, no
at Penn State L 24–34  9-7
(3-6)
Recreation Hall 
State College, PA
Sat., Mar. 13, 1937
no, no
Penn State L 34–51  9-8
(3-7)
Tech Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1936-37 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  3. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Home Courts
  4. ^ sports-reference.com 1936-37 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference Season Summary
  5. ^ a b The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 92. Joe Murphy
  6. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 99. Harry Bassin
  7. ^ a b The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 66. Mike Petrosky
  8. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1930-31 to 1939-1940". Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  9. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers
  10. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1930s Seasons
  11. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  12. ^ sports-reference.com 1936-37 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results
  13. ^ 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 59.