The question was posed in this space on Dec. 23 and my answer came the very same day.
Some friends, enjoying a bit of pre-Christmas cheer, were wondering who scored the first basket at the Reilly Center some 55 years ago?
All I knew was that it came in the prelim — before St. Bonaventure’s varsity hosted Quincy College — when the Bonnie freshmen faced the Alfred University frosh.
It was Dec. 2, 1966 and the first game for SBU’s touted first-year center, Bob Lanier.
He provided an immediate career indicator, scoring 37 points in limited minutes, as Bona rolled to a 112-65 victory.
But nowhere in the brief Times Herald story on that game was the identity of the building’s initial basket scorer revealed.
However, that mention in my column put long-time Bonnie fan John Firkel on the case and he had the answer within hours. Dale Tepas, a member of that SBU freshman team, reported that Gene Fahey logged RC’s first-ever official bucket.
BUT THE question even evoked a response from the opposing team.
Coudersport dentist Pete Ryan was a member of that Alfred frosh squad and was asked by friends whether he scored that historic basket.
In an email, Ryan recounted his own recollection of that game.
“I was 18 years old and, in my mind, my first basket as a freshman at Alfred was not, at that time, a very big deal … even if it was against St. Bona,” he said, adding that first bucket wasn’t his.
“But I can say my shot attempt was the first that Bob Lanier blocked in the Reilly Center. I had stolen a pass and had what I thought was an easy breakaway layup when, as I released the ball, a big left hand swept the ball away before it hit the backboard. Welcome to Bob Lanier.”
Ryan added, with a sense of pride, “We lost the return game at Alfred, 88-80, and were actually in it throughout.
“A lasting memory from that game came from Willie Magnum, a Bona freshman guard who was pictured in the Times Herald several days before the game removing a quarter from the top of the backboard in the Reilly Center. I guarded Willie and every time he took a jump shot I would rise up with him on defense to contest his shot and all I saw was the top of his trunks. Vertical leap was not something measured in those days, but I never saw or played with or against anyone who jumped like Willie.”
AND THOSE weren’t Ryan’s only memories of playing at Alfred.
“How many Division III hoopsters can say they played against two players who were perennial NBA All-Stars, NBA All-Star Game MVPs, one an NBA Hall of Fame Player?” he wondered. “Of course, Bob Lanier was all three, but Randy Smith of Buffalo State, the Buffalo Braves and San Diego Clippers, was a perennial All-Star, All-Star Game MVP and also set the NBA “ironman” record with over 900 straight games played.”
Ryan added, “One thing I remember about Randy Smith was an event that took place on the Buff State home court my junior or senior year. We knew nothing about him at the time and I was the guard whose responsibility was to stay back on defense.
“Randy came roaring down with the ball on a fast break … .he and I one-on-one. (Smith) was coming right at me so I stopped just inside the foul line prepared to take a charge. He jumped completely over my head, all 5-foot-10 of me, and all I saw was the bottom of his sneakers. Randy placed the ball in the hoop and ran back down the court like it was just a routine play.
“That happened over 50 years ago and I will never forget it,” Ryan said. “Randy (who died in 2009 at the age of 60) and Bob Lanier were athletes I will always remember and cherish the thought that I actually competed against ‘world class’ players.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
