1958–59 St. John's Redmen basketball team

1958–59 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
ECAC Holiday Festival Champions
NIT Champions
NIT Championship vs. Bradley, W, 76-71 2OT
ConferenceMetropolitan New York Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
Record20–6 (4–2 Metropolitan New York Conference)
Head coach
Assistant coachLou Carnesecca
CaptainAl Seiden
Home arenaMartin Van Buren High School
Madison Square Garden
Seasons
1958–59 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Manhattan 4 – 0   1.000 15 – 6   .714
Brooklyn 3 – 1   .750 8 – 10   .444
St. John's 4 – 2   .667 20 – 6   .769
Fordham 2 – 2   .500 17 – 8   .680
NYU 2 – 2   .500 15 – 8   .652
CCNY 1 – 6   .143 6 – 12   .333
St. Francis (NY) 0 – 3   .000 5 – 18   .217
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1958–59 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1958–59 NCAA Division I college basketball season. The team was coached by Joseph Lapchick in his fourteenth year at the school and also was the first season Lou Carnesecca joined the basketball program as an assistant coach. The team was a member of the Metropolitan New York Conference. During this time the university was transitioning from Brooklyn to Queens, so the basketball team played their home games at Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, NY and Madison Square Garden in Manhattan while their new on campus arena, Alumni Hall, was being built.

Roster

# Name Height Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
11 Gus Alfieri 6'2" G Sr. Brooklyn, NY, U.S. St. Francis Prep
14 Gary Marozas 6'6" F/C So. Queens, NY, U.S. Forest Hills HS
21 Mike Pedone 6'0" G Jr. Jersey City, NJ, U.S. St. Peter's Prep
24 Tony Jackson 6"4" G/F So. Brooklyn, NY, U.S. Thomas Jefferson HS
25 Bernie Pascal (DNP) 6'5" F Sr. Brooklyn, NY, U.S. St. Francis Prep
27 Dick Engert 6"5" F Sr. Brooklyn, NY, U.S. Xavier HS
33 Alan Seiden 5"10" G Sr. Queens, NY, U.S. Jamaica HS
34 Lou Roethel 6"6" F/C Sr. Brooklyn, NY, U.S. St. Francis Prep
John Ryan 6'6" F/C Jr. Long Beach, NY, U.S. Long Beach HS
Butch Dellacave 5'9" G So. Brooklyn, NY, U.S. St. John's Prep

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
12/04/58*
 Providence W 73-55  1-0
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
12/08/58*
 Bridgeport W 98-56  2-0
 Martin Van Buren High School 
Queens, NY
12/10/58
 No. 20 at Brooklyn W 93-68  3-0 (1-0)
 Brooklyn College 
Brooklyn, NY
12/13/58*
 No. 20 Bradley L 66-71  3-1
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
12/15/58*
 No. 20 Hunter W 91-52  4-1
 Martin Van Buren High School 
Queens, NY
12/20/58*
 Virginia W 90-71  5-1
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
12/26/58*
 vs. Holy Cross
ECAC Holiday Festival Quarterfinal 		W 77-63  6-1
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
12/27/58*
 vs. No. 20 Dayton
ECAC Holiday Festival Semifinal 		W 76-63  7-1
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
12/29/58*
 vs. St. Joseph's
ECAC Holiday Festival Championship 		W 90-79  8-1
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
01/03/59*
 No. 13 Temple W 81-76  9-1
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
01/10/59*
 No. 10 at George Washington W 86-85  10-1
 Uline Arena 
Washington, D.C.
01/17/59*
 No. 9 at St. Joseph's W 97-72  11-1
 The Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
01/24/59
 No. 7 vs. St. Francis (NY) W 91-44  12-1 (2-0)
 69th Regiment Armory 
New York, NY
01/29/59*
 No. 7 at No. 15 St. Louis L 68-72  12-2
 Kiel Auditorium 
St. Louis, MO
01/31/59*
 No. 7 at Loyola (IL) L 85-95 2OT 12-3
 Chicago Stadium 
Chicago, IL
02/02/59*
 No. 7 at Notre Dame L 70-72  12-4
 Notre Dame Fieldhouse 
Notre Dame, IN
02/05/59*
 No. 15 Richmond W 85-76  13-4
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
02/14/59
 No. 19 at Fordham L 77-79 OT 13-5 (2-1)
 Rose Hill Gymnasium 
Bronx, NY
02/19/59*
 Niagara W 87-78  14-5
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
02/26/59
 No. 17 Manhattan L 65-70  14-6 (2-2)
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
02/28/59
 No. 17 CCNY W 82-64  15-6 (3-2)
 Martin Van Buren High School 
Queens, NY
03/05/59
 No. 18 NYU W 57-55  16-6 (4-2)
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
NIT
03/12/59*
 vs. Villanova
NIT First Round 		W 75-67  17-6
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
03/14/59*
 vs. No. 19 St. Bonaventure
NIT Quarterfinal 		W 82-74  18-6
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
03/19/59*
 vs. Providence
NIT Semifinal 		W 76-55  19-6
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
03/21/59*
 vs. No. 4 Bradley
NIT Championship 		W 76-71 2OT 20-6
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year Round Pick Player NBA Club
1959 2 12 Al Seiden St. Louis Hawks
1961 2 24 Tony Jackson New York Knicks

References