NEW YORK – Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information Kelvin Queliz has set up "Throwback Monday" on CCNYAthletics.com, posting a story of past City College of New York championship seasons.
Sixty-three years later, a team that took over the city that never sleeps and shocked the world, ending its season with seven consecutive victories en route to their first ever NIT Championship before weeks later, defeating Bradley University again, but this time, for the NCAA Championship, let us not forget the historic 1949-50 season the CCNY men's basketball team gave us.
Perhaps the first team to really put City College on the map, the Beavers became the first and only team to ever win the NCAA and NIT Championship in the same season. But how many of us knew that CCNY was the last entry in both tournaments (eighth)?
The 24-5 Beavers played one of the toughest schedules that season, with most games played at the mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden. Ed Warner earned NIT Most Valuable Player honors after his stellar postseason run, posting back-to-back 26 point games – both team-highs - to lead CCNY past top-seed University of San Francisco, 65-46 (March 2) and following with a 64-61 defeat over New York University (March 7).
CCNY coasted past the University of Kentucky and Duquesne University before Irwin Dambrot's 23 points led the Beavers to a 68-61 victory over Bradley and clinched the NIT Championship.
Four days later, Layne's 17 points were almost not enough but the Beavers survived a scare against Ohio State University, defeating the Buckeyes, 56-55. Ed Roman, who led CCNY in points/game with 16.4, finished with 21 points as the Beavers defeated top-5 ranked North Carolina State, 58-53, to advance to the championship game in a rematch against the Braves.
Three Beavers averaged double figures that season, led by Roman's 16.4 points/game and Warner's 14.8 points/game. Floyd Layne, who attended Saturday's 75th Anniversary of NCAA March Madness and the Fourth Annual Alumni Day at CCNY, averaged 6.4 points/game. Dambrot was named the NCAA MVP after finishing with 15 points in the clinching game, a 71-68 victory over Bradley (March 28).
Sixty-three years later, let us not forget the impact that Nat Holman still has on Beavers nation.
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