1944 World Professional Basketball Tournament

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World Professional Basketball Tournament
1944
Tournament information
LocationChicago, Illinois
Dates20 March–24 March
Venue(s)Chicago Stadium
Teams14
Final positions
ChampionsFort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1st runner-upBrooklyn Eagles
2nd runner-upHarlem Globetrotters
MVPBobby McDermott
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The 1944 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the sixth edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois,[1] during the days of 20–24 March 1944 and featured 14 teams, with the teams mostly independently run teams alongside the teams that were from the National Basketball League at the time and also the American Basketball League's Brooklyn Eagles, which was composed of star players from the ABL. Entering the tournament, the NBL's Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (who had likely already won that league's championship earlier on) were slated to win the entire event, despite them competing against the New York Renaissance, who were competing as themselves after their players participated in last year's event as the Washington Bears, in the semifinal event. The Globetrotters advanced past the Oshkosh All-Stars in the quarterfinals in a contest officially recorded as a 41–31 Harlem victory, though the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported the game was in fact declared a 2–0 forfeit in Harlem’s favor after a series of fights within the final six minutes escalated to the point that police became involved, prompting Oshkosh head coach Lon Darling to withdraw his team.[2] The Zollner Pistons would end up stunning the Renaissance with a close 42–38 victory in Fort Wayne's favor, while the ABL's Brooklyn squad ended up upsetting the Harlem Globetrotters in their semifinal match with a 63–41 blowout victory due to their fast-paced action. Ultimately, the championship match was won by the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons for the first time in the franchise's history alongside the NBL championship, who defeated the ABL's based Brooklyn Eagles 50–33 in the championship game in what ultimately became the best performance for an ABL team in a WPBT event.[3] The Harlem Globetrotters came in third after beating the New York Rens 37–29 in the third-place game. Bobby McDermott of Fort Wayne was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.[4]

Results

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Bracket

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Round 1 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
        
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons[5] 59
Dayton Aviators 34
Dayton Aviators 52
Akron Collegians 38
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 42
New York Rens 38
New York Rens 39
Detroit Suffrins 33
New York Rens[5] 62
Cleveland Chase Brassmen 38
Cleveland Chase Brassmen 55
Indianapolis Pure Oils 52
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 50
Brooklyn Eagles 33
Brooklyn Eagles[5] 49
Sheboygan Red Skins 43
Brooklyn Eagles 55
Camp Campbell Tankmen 41
Brooklyn Eagles 63
Harlem Globetrotters 41
Harlem Globetrotters 41 Third place
Pittsburgh Corbetts 40
Harlem Globetrotters[5] 41 Harlem Globetrotters 37
Oshkosh All-Stars 31 New York Rens 29
Oshkosh All-Stars 51
Rochester Wings 40

Semi-finals

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23 March 1944
Brooklyn Eagles 63, Harlem Globetrotters 41
Pts: B. Tough – 32 Pts: B. Pressley – 12
Chicago Stadium
Attendance: 10,428
Referees: Nat Messinger, Steve Barak
23 March 1944
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 42, New York Rens 38
Pts: B. McDermott, J. Bush – 9 Pts: P. Bell – 14
Chicago Stadium
Attendance: 10,428
Referees: Nat Messinger, Dutch Kriznecky

Third place game

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24 March 1944
8:15 p.m.
Harlem Globetrotters 37, New York Rens 29
Pts: D. Cumberland – 10 Pts: Sonny Wood – 8
Chicago Stadium
Attendance: 14,226

Championship game

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24 March 1945
9:15 p.m.[6]
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 50, Brooklyn Eagles 33
Scoring by quarter: 12–9, 16–2, 14–10, 8–12
Pts: J. Pelkington – 19 Pts: B. Tough, B. Opper – 11
Chicago Stadium
Attendance: 14,226
Referees: Nat Messenger, Dutch Kriznecky

Individual awards

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All-Tournament First team

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All-Tournament Second team

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Notable occurrences

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  • On 21 March, with three minutes remaining in the quarter-finals match between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Oshkosh All-Stars, a fight broke out between the players which needed officials and police to restore order. Thirty seconds after play resumed, trouble broke out again and Oshkosh coach Lon Darling decided to call his team from the game.[7]
  • On 23 March, Bob Tough of the Brooklyn Eagles set a tournament record with his 32 points against Harlem Globetrotters in the semi-finals.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Philip Grabowski (March 21, 1944). "Corbetts in World Tourney". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 14. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 129
  3. ^ "Fort Wayne Five wins pro meet". Chicago Tribune. March 26, 1944. p. 25. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ "Fort Wayne drubs Eagles for Pro Cage Title, 50-35". Democrat and Chronicle. March 26, 1944. p. 31. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ a b c d "Fort Wayne, Rens to Meet in Semi-Finals". Chicago Tribune. March 23, 1944. p. 24. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ "Ft. Wayne Five, Brooklyn gain stadium finals". Chicago Tribune. March 25, 1944. p. 20. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Pro game ends in fistic melee". The Spokesman-Review. March 24, 1944. p. 6. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ "Eagles go to Finals; Meet Trotters here". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 25, 1944. p. 10. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Bob Tough, former Seton Hall star, equalled the tourney record by scoring 32 points against the Trotters, former champions. Open access icon
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