1945–46 Rochester Royals season

1945–46 Rochester Royals season
NBL champions
Head coachLes Harrison &
Eddie Malanowicz
OwnersJack Harrison
Les Harrison
ArenaEdgerton Park Arena
Results
Record24–10 (.706)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBL Champions
(Defeated Sheboygan 3–0)
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWHAM

The 1945–46 Rochester Royals season was the franchise's first season in the National Basketball League.[1] This would also be considered the franchise's first official season as the Rochester Royals after previously being a mostly independent franchise that went by the name of the Rochester Seagrams all the way back in 1923 and then used the names of the Rochester Eber Seagrams and Rochester Pros in their last few seasons before utilizing the Rochester Royals name once they officially became a professional franchise.[2] However, if those earlier incarnations are included, this season would represent the franchise's 23rd year of continuous play. This season was notable for the fact that the Royals would have the biggest victory in NBL history with a 70–27 blowout win on January 5, 1946, over the Youngstown Bears, who were also a new NBL team (one who only scored eleven total field-goals and five free-throws that night), though they would end up playing in that league for only one more season before folding operations altogether.[3][4] They would also win their only NBL championship (and first professional basketball championship) during that season. The Royals would later win an NBA Finals championship five years later in 1951 after they later moved out into the National Basketball Association (which would become their only other professional basketball championship won ever since then), with the franchise now currently going by the Sacramento Kings.

Roster

1945–46 Rochester Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G/F Al Cervi 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1917-02-12 East HS (NY)
F/C Chuck Connors 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921-04-10 Seton Hall
G/F Bob Davies 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-01-15 Seton Hall
F/C Bob Fitzgerald 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1923-03-14 Fordham
G Jack Garfinkel 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1918-06-13 St. John's
F/C George Glamack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1919-06-07 North Carolina
G/F Otto Graham 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921-12-06 Northwestern
G Red Holzman 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1920-08-10 CCNY
G/F Andrew Levane 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-04-11 St. John's
C John Mahnken 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-06-16 Georgetown
F/C Al Negratti 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-06-12 Seton Hall
G Buddy O'Grady 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1920-01-19 Georgetown
F Delbert Rice 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1922-10-27 Portsmouth (OH)
F Tommy Rich 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1916-04-26 Cornell
G Bernard Voorheis 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1922-05-23 Cornell
Head coach

Eddie Malanowicz &
Les Harrison

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Season standings

NBL Schedule

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Rochester's official NBL record for this season. An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible (outside of two matches that the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans won over the Dayton Metropolitans in 1938) would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Rochester Royals during their first ever season in the NBL.

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 24 Sheboygan 53–52 1–0
2 December 1 Cleveland 60–49 2–0
3 December 2 @ Fort Wayne 56–54 3–0
4 December 3 @ Youngstown 48–40 4–0
5 December 8 Youngstown 61–47 5–0
6 December 9 @ Cleveland 65–45 6–0
7 December 18 Sheboygan 61–49 7–0
8 December 25 @ Cleveland 60–48 8–0
9 December 29 Fort Wayne 59–63 8–1
10 January 5 Youngstown 70–27 9–1
11 January 12 Chicago 63–32 10–1
12 January 13 @ Cleveland 59–48 11–1
13 January 14 @ Youngstown 58–50 12–1
14 January 19 @ Fort Wayne 61–43 13–1
15 January 20 Fort Wayne 53–58 13–2
16 January 22 Oshkosh 64–55 14–2
17 January 24 @ Sheboygan 41–52 14–3
18 January 25 @ Chicago 48–53 14–4
19 January 26 @ Oshkosh 45–52 14–5
20 February 2 Cleveland 59–49 15–5
21 February 3 @ Indianapolis 36–47 15–6
22 February 4 @ Youngstown 50–47 16–6
23 February 9 Indianapolis 65–57 17–6
24 February 10 Indianapolis 49–56 17–7
25 February 12 @ Cleveland 55–47 18–7
26 February 17 Fort Wayne 58–55 19–7
27 February 19 @ Fort Wayne 64–59 20–7
28 February 23 Chicago 68–56 21–7
29 February 26 Oshkosh 50–58 21–8
30 February 28 @ Sheboygan 35–59 21–9
31 March 1 @ Chicago 51–58 21–10
32 March 2 @ Oshkosh 64–62 22–10
33 March 4 @ Indianapolis 72–52 23–10
34 March 9 Youngstown 70–47 24–10

Eastern Division

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 26 8 .765
2 Rochester Royals 24 10 .706
3 Youngstown Bears 13 20 .394
4 Cleveland Allmen Transfers 4 29 .121

Western Division

Pos. Western Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Sheboygan Red Skins 21 13 .618
2 Oshkosh All-Stars 19 15 .559
3 Chicago American Gears 17 17 .500
4 Indianapolis Kautskys 10 22 .313

Playoffs

Eastern Division Playoff

(2E) Rochester Royals vs. (1E) Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons: Rochester wins series 3–1

  • Game 1: March 12, 1946 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 54, Rochester 44
  • Game 2: March 13, 1946 @ Fort Wayne: Rochester 58, Fort Wayne 52
  • Game 3: March 15, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 58, Fort Wayne 52
  • Game 4: March 16, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 70, Fort Wayne 54

NBL Championship

(2E) Rochester Royals vs. (1W) Sheboygan Red Skins: Rochester wins series 3–0

  • Game 1: March 19, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 60, Sheboygan 50
  • Game 1: March 21, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 61, Sheboygan 54
  • Game 1: March 24, 1946 @ Sheboygan: Rochester 66, Sheboygan 48

Statistics

Regular season

Rk Player Position Games played Field goals
Per Game 		Free Throws
Per Game 		Free Throws
Attempted Per Game 		Points Per
Game
1 George Glamack C-F 34 4.4 3.4 5.4 12.3
2 Red Holzman G 34 4.2 2.3 3.4 10.7
3 Al Cervi G-F 28 4.0 2.7 3.9 10.7
4 Bob Davies G-F 27 3.2 2.6 3.8 9.0
5 Otto Graham F-G 32 1.8 1.5 2.3 5.2
6 John Mahnken C 16 3.1 1.4 2.4 7.7
7 Andrew Levane F-G 22 2.4 0.4 0.9 5.1
8 Al Negratti F-C 16 1.2 0.6 — 3.0
9 Tommy Rich F 17 1.1 0.5 — 2.6
10 Jack Garfinkel G 18 0.8 0.3 — 1.9
11 Bob Fitzgerald F-C 10 0.9 1.5 — 3.3
12 Chuck Connors F-C 14 0.8 0.4 — 2.0
13 Delbert Rice F 11 0.7 0.5 — 2.0
14 Buddy O'Grady G 1 0.0 0.0 — 0.0
15 Bernard Voorheis G 8 0.0 0.0 — 0.0

Playoffs

Rk Player Position Games played Field goals
Per Game 		Free Throws
Per Game 		Free Throws
Attempted Per Game 		Points Per
Game
1 George Glamack C-F 7 4.9 2.9 3.9 12.6
2 Bob Davies G-F 7 4.0 4.3 5.9 12.3
3 Red Holzman G 7 4.3 3.0 4.4 11.6
4 Al Cervi G-F 7 3.3 3.4 4.3 10.0
5 John Mahnken C 7 2.7 1.1 1.3 6.6
6 Al Negratti F-C 7 1.3 1.0 2.0 3.6
7 Bob Fitzgerald F-C 6 0.3 1.0 1.7 1.7
8 Otto Graham F-G 5 0.6 0.0 — 1.2
9 Jack Garfinkel G 6 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.5
10 Andrew Levane F-G 3 0.0 0.7 0.7 0.7
11 Bernard Voorheis G 1 0.0 0.0 — 0.0[5]

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ NBA Team Roots
  2. ^ "NBA Team Roots".
  3. ^ "Rochester Royals".
  4. ^ "Youngstown Bears".
  5. ^ 1945-46 Rochester Royals Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
  6. ^ 1945-46 NBL Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com
  7. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NBL Web Site". www.geocities.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2005. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
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