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PAGE SIX
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CLARK PANTHER, MARCH 31, 1953, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
t
Panthers Lose to Tuskegee In
Opening Round at SIAC Tourney
The Eppsmen barely made the
tournament by winning their last
six games of the season. Looking
like a new team, the Clark cagers
hit the nets in those games for an
average of 80 points per game,
compared to their opponent’s of
fense of 66 points per game.
Playing without their mainstay,
Roman Turmon, who fouled out in
the third quarter, the Eppsmen
made a valiant and courageous
stand. However, Harold Hubbard,
Robert Thompson, and Darius
Hairston followed “Dock” to the
bench with five personal^ in the
final stanza. John Swain, Offie
Clark, Ronald Holloway, Joseph
Daniels, Bobby Lindsey and Ern
est Oglesby fought for that which
they had long striven for—-a vic
tory in the tourney. Although they
greatly closed an overwhelming
gap, time ran out and they reluc
tantly accepted their second- con
secutive opening game tournament
defeat.
High point man for the Clark
cagemen was Darius Hairston
who bucketed 20 points. Turmon
came behind him with 12. The
Eppsmen had met the Golden Ti
gers twice during the regular sea
son and gained a slpit. At Tus
kegee, the Clark cagers took a
stinging 56-49 defeat, but retaliat
ed with an 82-62 conquest at home
for their revenge.
“You Can’t Win
Every Fight”
By Thomas Flannagan
Editor’s Note: Miss Deborah
Middleton, sophomore, and an avid
follower of Clark College athletics,
desires for this poem to be dedi
cated to the 1953 basketball squad.
You can’t win every fight,
You must learn to lose.
In the fevered gamble called life,
Little one can do when it comes
to choose
A place in the bustle of the
strife: i
Remember that in every battle
won,
Somebody lost out in the park;
Be it yours to face the morning
sun,
And just keep on a-coming back.
Remember your opponent must
win sometime
In the struggle of the fray.
If he didn’t now and then to vic
tory climb,
There would soon be no games
to play:
Tis the law of the game—every
man must lose
Whether he’s wrong or right.
However you buckle your bath
ing shoes.
You just can't win every fight.
CAGE SQUAD. Terminating their SIAC Visitation season with nine wins and twelve losses, the Clark
College Cardinal and Black Panthers are pictured above as they appeared early in the season. Their woes
were many as they were tortured by sportswriters and fans -alike when six consecutive losses piled four
teen notches for them in the “loss” column. To the surprise of many, they “kicked” in their final six hard
wood tilts, winning all, and gaining a berth in the annual SIAC tourney. Front row, 1. to r., Samuel Tate,
Bobby Lindsey, Randolph McMillan, Ronald Holloway, Robert Thompson and Freddie Jackson. Back row,
Joseph Daniels, Harold Hubbard, Warren Rouse, Darius Hairston and Offie Clark. Not pictured are Roman
Turmon, John Swain and Ernest Oglesby. (Photo by Charles Lowe)
Oh, yes! The tournament was
won by Bethune-Cookman College.
Xavier took the runner-up slot,
while Morehouse and Florida A.
and M. placed third and fourth.
The Spikesters
Intensifying their practice ses
sions are the Clark College spike
sters who have high hopes for an
other prosperous track season.
Under the watchful eye of
Coach Epps, the Cardinal and
Black cindermen have been prac
tising for the past two months
readying themselves for the stiff
SIAC competition.
Last season, the Eppsmen won
the City triangle championship by
beating out Morehouse and Mor
ris Brown Colleges on the Atlanta
University paths. They also par
ticipated in the Alabama State re
lays at Montgomery. Hardly given
a chance of placing among the top
four teams, the underdog Epps
men showed all their flying heels
and placed third in the annual
SIAC track meet held at the At
lanta University track field. The
Clark sprinters racked up 28
points to place behind Xavier Uni
versity and Tuskegee Institute,
who took first and second places,
respectively.
This year the Clark aggregation
is slated for more meets. They
are scheduled for the annual City
meet, the Florida relays, a dual
meet with Fort Valley, the Ala
bama State relays, Tuskegee and
Xavier relays and will wind the
season up at the SIAC meet in
May.
Coach Epps lost many of last
year’s stellar performers to the
Armed Forces in the persons of
Laurence Gates, Leon Carlton,
Aloyd Edinburgh and Hubert
Ricks. Others not returning to the
footpaths are Henry Collins, Lar
kin Mann and LeArtis McNeil.
Harold Barrett, senior sprinter
who hails from New Brighton, Pa.,
is the captain for this year’s squad
which consists of seventeen thin-
clads. They are John Cannon, and
Arthur Johnson, seniors? Offie
Clark, Roman Turmon, and George
Davis, juniors; Ivan Mullins,
Charles Stinson, Newt Solomon,
Edward Clemons, Walter Vance,
and Ralph Ballard, sophomores;
and Willie Love, Melvin Brown,
Roy Buckner, Bobby Lindsey and
Homer Swan, freshmen.
CARDINAL AND
END VISITATION
Calling on their reserve energy
and “basketball know-how”, the
valiant Clark College Cardinal
Panthers staged a six game sea
son’s end winning streak to write
“finis” to their 1952-53 Visitation
season with a 10 won, 14 lost over
all record. The Eppsmen played 21
conference games, winning nine
and losing twelve—a record which
barely enable them to attend the
annual SIAC tourney held at Tus-
kegee’s Logjm Hall.
The Eppsmen started the sea
son on a sour note. On “Bob Phil
lips Day”, they opened the season
against Savannah State College in
Joe Louis Gymnasium. Playing
without the services of their all
conference center, Roman Turmon,
the Cardinal and Black floormen
waged a thrilling battle before
bowing to the Tigers 52-53. Two
nights later Knoxville College en
tered the Gate City and handed the
Panthers another one point loss,
barely eking a 58-59 conquest.
“Dock” was still sidelined due to
a recurring football injury. How
ever, his love of the game could
no longer make him watch the fray
from the bench and he contributed
five points in the last three minutes
of the losing battle.
Early in the Christmas season,
the Eppsmen journeyed to the
Crescent City where they tangled
with Xavier and Southern Univer
sities and again tasted the sting
of defeat by scores of 58-63 and
41-57.
A new year had begun and the
Eppsmen were determined to start
off on the right foot. On January
5 they whaled Fisk at Nashville to
the tune of 59-38 for their first win.
However, their new year hopes
were given a stab in the back when
Knoxville College stung them the
following night in Knoxville 63-84.
Coming home for their first home
tilt of the New Year, the Eppsmen
met their arch rivals from “across
the street” and fell to the devastat
ing Maroon Tiger attack 52-71.
Coach Epps repeatedly drilled his
offensive and defensive plays in the
minds of the cagemen. Their claws
were sharpened! Fort Valley and
Benedict College can attest to this
fact as the Panthers scratched them
all over the court for their second
and third victories.
BLACK CAGEMEN STAGE LATE SEASON RALLY TO
CAMPAIGN WITH 10-14 RECORD.
Once again victory was short
lived when Morris Brown eked a
thrilling low scoring battle from
the Clark charges 42-47. Then, Be
thune-Cookman moved into town
and administered a heartbreaking
double-overtime defeat to the
Panthers 78-84. This was to be
remembered as one of the most
exciting games of the season.
South Carolina State rolled into the
city two nights later and the Epps
men promptly registered their
fourth victory.
Alabama State College, the
“jinx” team for the Panthers,
moved into Atlanta and initiated a
six game losing skein for the
Clark basketeers when they out-
shot the Panthers 84-71. Two
nights later, the Clarkites fell to
Tuskegee and lost the services of
their star player, Turmon, again
when he badly sprained his ankle.
With Warren Rouse at center in
Turmon’s place, the Clarkites jour
neyed to Daytona Beach where they
scared the living daylights out of
the Bethune-Cookman cagers be
fore giving way to a devastating
barrage of the Floridians shots and
losing 50-82.
On their home court again, the
Eppsmen’s morale was low and
the sportswriters and fans were
bellowing. They were being called
‘fangless” and over-rated. Fisk and
Morehouse took advantage of this
low morale in the Clark camp and
coupled with their timely shots
handed the Panthers their 13th and
14th defeats. This sent the total
consecutive losses soaring to six.
The chips were down! The re
maining games had to be won in
order to stay in the running for a
tournament berth. Even at that,
they had to say a prayer and wait
in suspense upon what the other
teams accomplished during the sea
son. Coach Epps told them just
before the Morris Brown game:
“One-half of - the school doesn’t be
lieve that you can win. These seat
ed here in this room are, practical
ly, the only ones who believe you
can do it. Are you ready?” Jubi
lant yells of “Let’s Go” bounced
from the walls of the small room
and win they did!
Stalking stealthily through the
basketball jungle from their lowly
losing perch, the Panthers jumped
from their maze of losses to dig
their claws deeply into the Wolver
ines of Morris Brown College.
MBC fell by the count of 72-65 and
Tuskegee became the next victim
by 82-62, as the Panthers wound
up their home season. They had
their shooting eye!
They went through South Caro
lina like Grant went through Rich
mond! Scoring the highest number
of points scored by a Clark team,
the Eppsmen vanquished South
Carolina State in a triple-overtime
thriller 94-88. Roman T. sent 44
points through the “till” in a game
which could not be described ade
quately from a sportswriters pen
nor the action shown well enough
in a movie to display their most
valiant attempt at victory.
The final three victims of the
season were Allen University, Ben
edict College and Savannah State.
With the conquest over Savannah
they had avenged the “Bob Phillips
Day” loss.
In those final six games they
were weary and worn, but still
showing the same fight Clark teams
of the past have done. The sports
writers had hushed. Instead of
praising their valiant stand, the
accusers shut up! The fans who
are always against you when you
are losing, once again jumped on
the winning side. Many of these
same fans had said before the six-
game win streak, “there’s no hope
now.” “The team ain’t nothing.”
“I can’t yell for them now.” These
very same words were choked down
their throats by the men who
showed them they could do it!
Coach Epps placed a young, in
experienced starting five on the
floor this year. No man on the
squad had played any first string
ball with the exception of Roman
Turmon. The team consisted of
nine newcomers and five veterans.*
At mid-season Freddie Jackson and
Randolph McMillan were lost to
the squad and twelve players were
left. When the Panthers started
their six game rally, there were
ten men on the squad.
The most interesting case of an
inexperienced basketball player is
that of Harold “Big Red” Hubbard.
Hubbard had never had any size
able basketball experience in high
school. It is interesting to hear him
tell of his awkwardness at handling
the ball when he first came out for
the team, and his scaredness in
playing his first game.
His determination, Coach Epps’
patience and the willing aid of his
fellow players earned for him a
starting berth, where he contrib
uted 202 points to the Eppsmen’s
cause. With his deveolpment came
the terrifying “H-T-H” combina
tion. (Hairston, Turmon and Hub
bard).
With the ball handling and time
ly shots of Robert Thompson, John
Swain and Offie Clark teamed with
the additional - strength of Ernest
Oglesby, Joseph Daniels, Ronald
olloway, and Bobby Lindsey, they
made a team, although it happened
late,in the season.
Harold “Big Red” Hubbard
Jumps for a pass
THE NAACP NEEDS YOUR
SUPPORT!