by jksander » Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:44 pm
[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]Key Moments in Lucas Erlewine (Redux) History
So far there have been four and a half seasons, including the following records:
1945-46: 18-10 (12-2, 1st Great West) -- NCAA Tournament 1st Round Loss
1946-47: 20-11 (8-6, 3rd Great West) -- NIT Tournament Quarterfinals
1947-48: 21-7 (11-3, 1st Great West) -- NCAA Tournament 1st Round Loss
1948-49: 25-4 (14-0, 1st Great West) -- NCAA Tournament 2nd Round Loss
That '48-'49 season saw the Houston Baptist program rise to #15 in the national rankings, becoming prominent nationally for the first time, though they flirted with greatness in 1946's tournament when the team, a 16th seed, came within several shots of winning the first round game over giant Kansas, though they lost in the end 61-70. The team's NIT run the following year was solid for fans in the region, but did little for his national prominence (who cares about wins against Davidson and Charlotte when you lose 59-62 to Coastal Carolina?) The tournament in 1948 brought another shot at moving up in the world, against (5) Utah, but though they went down fighting, the Huskies lost 61-72.
1948-49 turned into a turnaround season, with its 25-win record and undefeated Great West run. The team won key exhibitions early on against Texas Tech and Baylor in-state, got a big early season win against Houston by ten, then blew out #12 Oklahoma State 70-40, earning a level of respect that also gave them a 3-0 start. Other key wins included a 75-59 blowout on the road against Virginia, a 77-57 blasting of then 8-2 Texas State, and a huge 69-54 win over NC State (also on the road) to cap the pre-conference season. Then there was that 14-win tear, which got the Huskies a 6th seed in the tournament.
They made good use of it in the first round, beating (11) Minnesota 75-61, proving it can be done. But against 24-6 Duke (the region's #3 seed) they lost a heartbreaker 69-75, having to fight back after a post-halftime collapse (they'd trailed by four at the break but by as many as a dozen early in the second half. So no Sweet Sixteens yet despite Erlewine's stellar record. He's 96-37 midway through the 1949-50 season, with his Huskies standing tall at 12-5 (2-2 in a toughened Great West) with hopes of repeating as conference champs and getting that shot at the Big Dance yet again.
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