Friday. March 4, 1960
UAii4:K>N
PACE THHBi.
Christians End Home Season With Victory Over Guilford
CovMtser Tops Scoring
W/ith New Frosh Mark
Uttle Richie Conatser, the dead-
shot freshman guard from Somer
set, Ky., set up an all-time Elon
College scoring marlt for fresh
man when he tossed up 404 points
to lead the Fighting Christian cag-
ers in scoring for the 1959-60 bas
ketball season.
Playing in each of Elon’s 26
games during the year, the little
Kentuckian made good on 148 of
384 floor shots and added 108 of
135 tries from the charity stripe,
averaging close to 39 per cent on
his floor tries and over 81 per
cent of his free throw attempts.
Conatser’s total of 404 points
not only represented the first time
that an Elon freshman had scored
more than 400 points in his first
season of play. It was also the first
time that a Christian freshman
had ever been over the 300-point
mark too. Ben Kendall and Dee
Atkinson, rated two of Elon’s fin
est of all time, fell far below in
their first campaigns. Kendall hit
247. and Atkinson got 225 points
in their first seasons.
Ken Smith, who played only in
the first 17 games of the year,
falling by the scholastic wayside
at mid-year, trailed Conatser in
the scoring columns. Smith hit 307
points in his 17 games and led
the Christians in average points
per game for the year. Smith’s
marksmanship gave him an aver
age of 17.1 points per game. The
bis forward also topped the squad
in rebounding, with 181 in his 17
games for a better than 10 re
bounds per game. John Neidlg
equalled Smith In nnmber of re
bounds, also pulling down 181, but
he played in 25 games.
The Christians scored 1,830
points in their season while win-
SCORING
(FINAL
FOR
SEASON)
Player
G. F.G.
F.T.
T.P.
Conatser
26
148
108
404
Smith
17
111
85
307
Bell
?,5
91
49
231
Hall
27
86
140
Burke
.. 17
40
47
137
Neidig
25
50
37
137
Teague
?,4
49
21
119
Palkovics
?.?.
52
14
118
Hawks
?,5
32
31
93
Andrew __
16
25
24
74
Wright
17
18
11
47
Hodgs
11
4
7
15
Other Players
.... 7
1
7
9
Elon Totals ..
. 26
647
536
1830
Opponents
26
698
580
1976
CAGE TRIO SET FOR CONFERENCE TOURNEY Cttgers Defeat Quakers
76-56 In Season Finale
last year's team, which could av
erage only 56 points per game
while winning 7 and losing 16 con-
ifsts. The defensive mark fell
short of last year, for the Maroon
and Gold cagers allowed 1976
points for an average of 76 points
this year. Last year’s team al
lowed an average of 67.8 points
to the 23 opponents.
A shining mark set by this
year’s Christians was in the re
bounding division, for Coach Bill
Miller’s boys pulled down a total
of 1,097 loose balls off the boards
for an average of 42.2 rebounds
per game. At the same time they
allowed their opponents only 898
rebounds, an average of 35.1 per
game.
ning 9 and losing 17 games, aver
aging 70.4 points per contest. This
offensive mark was far ahead of
As I See It
By JOHN DALCIN
It seems to me that most of the
tudents here have gotten the
rong Idea on this drive for bet-
er sportsmanship, and gaining a
eg on the Messick Trophy. It
'oesn’t mean that you should crawl
nfo a sheU and wither, and let
our enthusiasm and spirit die with
ou. I’m sure It means that you
hould learn to take defeat as
ell as victory, and to give credit
here credit is due.
Elon has not in recent years had
he honor of being awarded the
lessick Trophy, and it would be
ice to gain such distinction in
he North State Conference; but
et’s not let it hinder the spirit
and enthusiasm which we once
ad. The morale of the school Is
niore important than a statue sit
ting in the trophy case collecting
dust.
The basketball team ended its
home season with a one-sided vic
tory over Guilford, a team which
is supposed to be one of our big
gest rivals. During the game there
seemed to be something missing.
I don’t know whether everyone
Was tired that night or they had
On their conscience that some
one was there to watch how they
were acting. Everyone seemed to
be afraid to make a wrong move
I know the fault couldn’t lie in
the fact that it was such a one
sided affair, because the stillness
persisted throughout the contest.
Victories of this type were too
few this season for our fans not
to have some kind of enthusias
tic reaction. We’ve had our taste
of defeat and know that victory
U a bit sweeter.
1
A
ge (rallies
One of the “Three I’s” that played a big part in the ill fortunes of the Fighting Christian cagers
occupies the central position in the above picture. The “Three I’s ’ that hit the Christians hard
were injuries, illness and ineligibility, and the broken wrist that hampered freshman Gary Teague
through the latter part of the campaign is the center of attention of three Elon cagers as they
waited in the dressing room for their first and only game of the North State Tournament at
Lexington last week, a game which saw the Maroon and Gold quint go down before Lenoir Rhyne
by a 70 to 48 count. Teague, center in the picture, is shown as he and senior forward Bob Bell
(left) and freshman center John Neidig (right) inspect the crippled arm. Teague played through
the final eight games with a cast on his arm, which materially cut his effectiveness.
Elon’s Baseball Fortunes May Depend
Heavily On New Players This Season
The spirit and enthusiasm that
we displayed in the earlier part
of the year was 100 per cent bet
ter than that displayed during
the Guilford contest, and our
sportsmanship was subject to ques
tion only once tills season. A few
tempers flared after this certain
contest, but nothing came of it,
and things were as normal as ever
the following day. None of our
students went to this particular
school and threw paint all over
its campus, as happened to Elon
during the football season.
Of course, our hopes for the
Messick Trophy have been dim
med by this one incident, but let’s
get back on the right road again
and show the North State C>>nfer-
ence officials that Elon should be
considered for the sportsmanship
trophy.
The baseball season will soon
be in full swing here so let’s g^
back that spirit and enthusiasm
which we once had, and show the
team that we are behind it—
win or lose.
CUFF NOTES: Three members
of the 1958 Elon grid squad, Tony
Carcaterra, Carl “Bubbles” Grove,
and Joey DelGais, will finish their
schooling this semester and go in
to teaching next year. DelGais is
also a member of the Elon base
ball team . . . Maurice “Tunner ”
Brosky has been accepted at Penn
State Graduate School . . . Coach
Sid Varney was known as the
‘Toy Bulldog” when he played
at the University of North Caro
lina.
With the opening of the I960
baseball season barely three weeks
away, it appears that the Elon
College baseball fortunes this
spring may depend heavily upon
how Coach Jack Sanford's new
recruits come through in the rug
ged North State Conference com
petition, for there are only eight
letter veterans on the squad which
has been working out In early
drills.
The Christians, who have al
ways been an outstanding power
on the diamond, will face a tough
30-game schedule that includes
two games each with the eight
North State Conference rivals and
fourteen other games with such
strong opposition as Wilbams Col
iege, Colby, Hampden-Sidney,
Washington and Lee, Princeton,
Norfolk Division, Fort Lee and
Pfeiffer.
Against these opponents. Coach
Sanford has only two letter pitch
ers, Gary Henson and Roger
Knapp, and only Henson was a
regular starter in previous sea
sons. Big John VanBenschoten,
who did a fine job as a freshman
last year, suffered a fractured col
lar bone last week and is gone
for the year; and Dan Mangrum,
who has seen reUef duty for the
Christian mound staff, is lost due
to academic difficulties.
The catching should be capably
cared for by Joe DelGais, who
divided time behind the plate with
Eddie Hughes last season. Dcl-
Gais completed his football eli
gibility with the 1958 season, but
he is back in college this year to
complete degree requirements and
will play his fourth season of the
diamond sport this spring.
There are three iettermen in
the infield, but none of three were
regulars a year ago. The veterans
are Pete Jones at second base,
C. G. Hall at shortstop and Jerry
Pike, who has been moved from
second base to third in an at
tempt to fill the gap at the hot
corner. Eddie Clark, who has seen
regular play at both first and sec
ond base, fell victim to academic
troubles and will be missing from
the field this spring.
The outfield situation also shows
Coach Sanford short-handed, with
Steve Wall as the only letterman
returning from last spring. Wall,
who started in centerfield last
spring, should clinch one of the
starting posts in the gardens, but
Leroy Myers, a letter reserve of
two years ago, is the only other
experienced outfielder. Ted Eanes
another starter last spring, is s
Baseball Schedule
Mar. 21—Williams, home.
Mar 22—Williams, home.
Mar. 24—Hampden-Sld., home.
Mar. 25—Colby, home.
Mar 26—^W. and L., home (DH).
Mar. 29—Catawba, away.
Mar. 31—Princton, home.
Apr. 1—A.C.C., home.
Apr. 2—High Point, home.
Apr. 5—Pfeiffer, home.
Apr. 7—Lenoir Rhyne, away.
Apr. 8—West Carolina, away.
Apr. 9—West Carolina, away.
Apr, 11—Guilford, away.
14—Pfeiffer, away.
Apr. 18—Norfolk IMvision, away
Apr. 19—Fort Lee, away.
Apr. 20—Fort Lee, away.
Apr. 25—Appalachian, home.
j^pr_ 27—Lenoir Rhyne, home
28—Catawba, home.
;^pj 30_East Carolina, home.
May 3—High Point, away.
May 5—Guilford, home.
May 10 Pembroke, home (DH)
May 13—A.C.C.. away.
May 14—East CaroUna, away.
May 18—Appalachian, away.
(Final For Season)
EIob (S, Pembroke 84.
FJon 63, Wofford 77.
Elon 82, Norfolk DlTisioa 6L
F.lon 85, Goilford 64.
Elon 71, Wofford 72.
Flon 62, Norfolk Division 85.
Elon 69, lllch Point 85.
Elon 74, Tamp Lejrune 89.
Elon 74, Wr.st CaroUna 70.
Elon S3, East Carolina 95.
Elon 97, Pembroke 66.
Elon 64, East Carolina 83.
FJon 70, Appalachian 76.
Elon 80, A.C.C. 67.
Elon 79, Catawba 77.
Elon 65, W. Carolina 75.
Elon 75. Lenoir Khyne 82.
third academic victim and will be
ineligible for play this season.
This means that at least one and
po?sil>ly two newcomers may be
starters in the outer defenses as
the 1960 campaign gets underway
Commenting upon his newcom
ers. Coach Sanford pointed out
that the squad has had only lim
ited practice on the field and that
it is too early at this time to rate
the freshmen and other new boys
accurately. He did list Clarence
Driver, a 1959 reserve, as a likely
pitching prospect, along with Wil
son Teal, a left-hander from Win
gate Junior College; and Jerry
Draice, John Currin and Jerry Is-
ley, a trio of freshman hurlers.
He listed George Wooten and Ben
ny Jones as pitching possibilities
after spring football drills are end
ed.
There are three promising fresh
man catchers, who may furnish
competition or capable support for
Joe DelGais behind the plate. They
are Griffin McVey, Tom Keyser
and Mike Little, although Little
is also tied up until spring foot
ball workouts are over.
(Ontlnued on Page Four)
Lenoir Rhyne
Defeats Elon
By 84 To 67
The Elon Christians got away
to a hot start and moved to a
quick ten-point lead over the Le
noir Rhyne Bears at Hickory on
Th^l^sday night, February 18th,
but they could not hold the pace
as the Bruins rallied to come
from behind and gain an 84 to
67 victory in a North State cage
battle here last night-
Little Richie Conatser and Her
bie Hawks paced the early drive
by the Elon tossers, which sent
the Christians to an 18 to 8 lead
in the first seven minutes of the
game, but lanky Ken Norman be
gan hitting for the Bears at that
point to narrow the lead, and Cap
tain Bill Reese drove for a lay
up that sent the Lenoir Rhyne
quint in front at 20-19 with nine
minutes left for the half.
It was Reese on a hot streak
who continued hitting to pull the
home-standing Bears away to 42-
32 edge when the rivals went out
for the half-time rest. He contin
ued to hit the net in the second
h.ilf, joining with Norman in a
late assault that pulled out the
17-point final victory margin.
Each team had two boys in dou
ble figures. Reese with 29 and
Norman with 24 points proved the
big guns for the Bears, but Rich
ie Conatser matched bucket for
bucket with them in the scoring
columns as he racked 27 points for
the Christians. Rob Bell had 12
points in a fine floor-shooting ef
fort that netted six field goals
The line-ups;
Pos.—Elon (67) Lenoir Rhyne (84)
f—Rell 12 Norman 24
Hawics 9 Bowman 7
C—Neidig 5 Ladd
—Conatser 27 Goodnight 7
G—Teague 2 Reese 29
The Elon basketeers tacked a I
victorious end on their regular!I
cage season when they romped to 1 I Elon Ca
a 76 to 56 victory over the Guil-||
ford Quakers on the floor of Eion’s
Alumni Memorial Gymnasium
here on Saturday night, February
20th.
The Christian tossers had al
ready clinched their position in
the Conference tournament, so
their only incentive was to close
out the regular season with a vic
tory and to make a clean sweep
of their season-twosome with their
ancient rival from Quaker land.
The Eton outfit had won the first
of their two season battles at Guil
ford early in the season.
The outcome of this final bat
tle was a decisive 20 points, but
the score was not always that de
cisive in Elon's favor. It is true
that the Guilford tossers never Elon 69, Catawba 92.
led after a brief ,5-4 edge in the Elon 65, High Point 79.
rst two minutes, but Coach Darr; Elon 45, W. Carolina 63.
neaiy s hov'^ kept the score close I Elon 85, A.C.C. 72.
until the half-Ume intermission.; Elon 62, Appalachian 64
At that Ume the Christians held Elon 55, East Carolina 88.
nly a 37-31 edge, and six points | Elon 67, Lenoir Rhyne 84.
can evaporate quickly in these j Elon 76. Guilford 56
days of high-scoring cage play, j (North State Tourney)
It was John Neidig with 12 and Elon 48, Lenoir Rhyne 70
Kichie Conatser with U points
that paced the Christians in thal
first-half battling, while Don Line-
berry and Jim Lancaster topped
the invading Quakers, both of them
hitting well from outside to keep
the Guilford quint in contention.
It was a different story, how
ever, when the rivals returned to
the floor after the break, for the
Christians literally blasted out
front by a big margin early in
the second half, with Elon de
fense playing a big part in the
move to the fore.
The Christians held Guilford to
only two floor buckets in the first
ten minutes of the half, and Richie
Conatser was hitting well as he
dropped his Jumpers with appa
rent ease. Cecil Wright chipped
in four baskets within as many
minutes, and Dewey Andrew Join
ed Conatser and Wright as last-
half leaders with three quick two-
pointers on the rebound and fast
break. Coach Miller cleared his
bench in the late minutes of the
game, with seniors Rob Bell and
Bill PaDcovlcs getting a big hand
from the crowd as they left the
game. It was the final home ap
pearance for both boys, who fin
ish their Elon cage careers this
season.
Richie Conatser was the top gun
in the Elon attack, racking nine
field goals and three charity toss
es for 221 points, which moved his
season total to 395 points, far
ahead of any previous Elon fresh
man mark. John Neidig trailed
with 16 points, only other Chris
tian to pass the double-digit mark.
It was Don Lineberry with 22 and
Jon Burwell with 13 points as
Guilford leaders.
The line-ups:
Pos.—Elon (78) Gnilford (56)
^ Bell 8 Lineberry 22
F—Palkovics 8 Lancaster 10
(3—Neidig 16 .... Burwell 13
3—ConaUer 21 Haworth 3
G-r-Teague 4 Braxton 2
Half-time: Elon 37, Guilford 31.
Elon subs: Andrew 7, Wright 9,
Hall 5, Hodge, Hawks. Guilford
subs: Parker 2, Elks, Sharpe,
Whiteley.
Cagers Lose To Bears
In Tournament Contest
The Christian basketeers fell
victim to a sharp-shooting crew
of Lenoir Rhyne Bears in the first
round of the annual North State
Tournament at Lexington on Wed
nesday night, February 24th, go
ing down 70 to 48 in a battle which
saw the Bears stifle the Elon at
tack through much of the battle'
with an air-tight zone defense.
The game, which closed out the
Elon cage season with a 9-17 mark
in the wln-loss column, proved to
be a close battle through the early
minutes, and after eighteen min
utes of play the Christians were
trailing by only 23-20, A question
able out-of-bounds decision at that
point gave the Bears two cheap
and quick baskets, which jumped
the Lenoir Rhyne outfit to a seven
point lead and set the stage for
the Bears’ 28-22 half-time lead.
The Christians played a good
East Carolina
Tops Cagers
The East Carolina Pirates had
four boys hitting double figures
in the scoring columns as they
turned back the Elon Christians
88 to 55 in a North State Confer
ence cage battle at Greenville on
Monday, February 15th.
The Pirates grabbed off an early
lead and were ahead by 20 points
at 43r23 at the end of the first
half, and they came back In the
final half with Lacy West leading
the scoring to push their final mar
gin to 33 points at 88 to 55. '
The top scoring honors for the
game, however, went to Gary
Teague, one of Elon’s freshman
defensive game against the Bruins, jjuards. Teague racked eight field
1. 1 ^ T3 111 'D /I AM .
goals and a free throw for 17
Half-time: Lenoir Rhyne 42, Elon
32.
Elon subs — Andrew 2, Palko
vics 2, Wright 2, Hall 6, Hodge
Lenoir Rhype subs — Harrington
2, Wells 8, Wiles, Dixon, Burton.
holding Bill Reese and Ken Nor
man, Lenoir Khyne scoring acei.
to the lowest totals they had shown
in three meetings with Elon this
year, but the other Bear players
took up the slack in a well-bal
anced attiack that showed four
men in double figures for the
night.
Captain Keese, who had sunk
the Christians twice with his dead
ly comer shots, managed only 11
points for the night, and the lanky
Norman was held to 14 counters
Others of the Bears who came
through with double-figure scores
((^■tiBUed on Pace Four)
points.
The line-ups;
Pos. Elon (55)
F—Teagu 17 ...
F—BeU 9
C—Neidig 4 ....
G—Hall 2
G—Conatser ....
E. Carolina (88)
Smith 8
West 15
Bowes 13
Clayton 11
Lewis 14
Half-time: East Carolina 43, Elon
23.
Elon subs: Andrew 15, Hawks
4, Palkovics 2, Wright 2. Hodge.
East Carolina subs: Starrett 8,
Hall 4, Fowler 4, Adcock 4, Fomei
8, Boyette.