1945–46 Youngstown Bears season

1945–46 Youngstown Bears season
Head coachPaul Birch (player-coach)
ArenaYoungstown South Field House
Results
Record13–20 (.394)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1945–46 Youngstown Bears season was technically the first professional basketball season of play for the Youngstown Bears in the smaller city of Youngstown, Ohio under the National Basketball League, which officially was the ninth season that it existed as a professional basketball league after previously existing as a semi-pro or amateur basketball league called the Midwest Basketball Conference in its first two seasons back in 1935. However, according to some older material that covered the NBL's history, the Youngstown Bears franchise are considered to be an extension of the Pittsburgh Raiders franchise, which originally started out as the independently created Pittsburgh Y.M.H.A. team back when they were an amateur team from the Pittsburgh Young Men's Hebrew Association all the way back in 1931 before joining the Midwest Basketball Conference precursor in 1935 before the team rebranded themselves into the Pittsburgh Pirates NBL team honoring the Major League Baseball team of the same name that joined the rebranded NBL in 1937 before they first left it in 1939 before supposedly reforming themselves independently as the Raiders in 1943 before returning to the NBL in 1944 before having the Youngstown Bears team replace the Pittsburgh Raiders team due to local fans in Youngstown looking to have the Raiders play in Youngstown instead (though the Raiders would still later exist as an independent team instead[1][2][3]). As such, if one were to include the wild Pittsburgh Y.M.H.A./Pirates/Raiders team history as a part of the Youngstown Bears' newly established history, this would officially be (at least) their tenth season of play as a franchise instead of their very first season of play as a franchise.

Throughout their first season in Youngstown, the Bears would see significant struggles and issues plague their entire season, including the worst blowout loss in NBL history on January 5, 1946, in a 70–27 beatdown to the eventual NBL champion Rochester Royals where Youngstown only made eleven total baskets and five total free-throws that night (with the best scorer for the Bears being Frank Baumholtz with 8 total points scored when Rochester had five different players either match or surpass Baumholtz's high score for that night, including George Glamack scoring 17 points by himself).[4][5] Despite the poor play they had that season, they would still finish their division with a third-place finish through a 13–20, which would place them ahead of the Cleveland Allmen Transfers (who folded operations by the season's end), but wouldn't come anywhere close to a playoff spot this season. However, their biggest loss would come from within after the season's end, as young, rising star center Huck Hartman died from pneumonia on March 25, 1946 (during the 1946 World Professional Basketball Tournament) following the team's final (NBL) game played that season against the Chicago American Gears.[6] Despite the death of one of their key players, the Youngstown Bears would continue to remain active in the NBL for another season after this one.

Roster

Please note that due to the way records for professional basketball leagues like the NBL and the ABL were recorded at the time, some information on both teams and players may be harder to list out than usual here.

1945–46 Youngstown Bears roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G/F Bob Armstrong 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1920–06–11 Glenville State
C Carl Baer 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1918–02–26 Aliquippa High School (PA)
G Frank Baumholtz 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1918–10–07 Ohio
G/F Moe Becker 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920–12–29 Duquesne
C Ray Bellingham 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1916–10–29 Westminster (PA)
G Paul Birch 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1910–01–10 Duquesne
F/C Irv Brenner 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1913–05–31 Duquesne
G Rudy Debnar 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1916–05–09 Duquesne
C Ernie Fortney 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1915–01–06 Duquesne
C Huck Hartman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1920–10–23 Washington & Jefferson
F Bob Henshaw 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1918–09–15 Mount Union
G Larry Kenney 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1914–01–07 Saint Joseph's
G/F Nick Lalich 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1916–11–05 Marquette
F/C Pete Lalich 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1924–06–18 Ohio
G Press Maravich 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1915–08–29 Davis & Elkins
F Walt Miller 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1915–07–30 Duquesne
F/C Leo Mogus 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921–04–13 Youngstown State
G Stan Noszka 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920–09–19 Duquesne
F/C Bob Shaw 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1921–05–22 Ohio State
G Joe Urso 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1916–09–17 Duquesne
C Don Warnke 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1920–04–08 Valparaiso
G John Wright 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921–01–08 George Washington
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

[7][8][9]

Regular season

NBL Schedule

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Youngstown'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 Youngstown Bears during their first season in the NBL.

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 26 Sheboygan 39–45 0–1
2 December 2 @ Cleveland 32–33 0–2
3 December 3 Rochester 40–48 0–3
4 December 5 N Oshkosh 43–60 0–4
5 December 6 @ Sheboygan 34–52 0–5
6 December 8 @ Rochester 47–61 0–6
7 December 10 Fort Wayne 52–71 0–7
8 December 16 @ Fort Wayne 59–74 0–8
9 December 17 Sheboygan 46–48 0–9
10 December 23 @ Indianapolis 44–35 1–9
11 December 26 Oshkosh 53–41 2–9
12 December 28 @ Chicago 47–45 3–9
13 December 29 @ Oshkosh 50–59 3–10
14 December 30 @ Fort Wayne 44–60 3–11
15 December 31 Cleveland 43–35 4–11
16 January 5 @ Rochester 27–70 4–12
17 January 6 @ Cleveland 58–51 5–12
18 January 7 Indianapolis 44–37 6–12
19 January 16 Rochester 50–58 6–13
20 January 21 Cleveland 45–38 7–13
21 January 28 Chicago 35–47 7–14
22 January 31 Fort Wayne 60–57 8–14
23 February 4 Rochester 47–50 8–15
24 February 7 Oshkosh 49–45 9–15
25 February 11 Indianapolis 33–43 9–16
26 February 17 @ Cleveland 46–50 9–17
27 February 18 Cleveland 52–38 10–17
28 February 19 @ Chicago 39–46 10–18
29 February 21 @ Sheboygan 44–42 11–18
30 February 24 @ Fort Wayne 54–59 11–19
— February 25 Chicago Postponed (Make-up Date: March 11, 1946)
31 March 6 Fort Wayne 62–60 12–19
32 March 9 @ Rochester 47–70 12–20
33 March 11 Chicago 54–38 13–20

For some unknown reason, the Youngstown Bears would have a game against the Indianapolis Kautskys (in a currently unknown date, but likely near the end of the season) that ended up getting cancelled this season.

Season standings

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

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates". nbahoopsonline.com. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Pittsburgh Raiders". nbahoopsonline.com. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  3. ^ Bradley, Robert (1999). The Compendium of Professional Basketball. Xaler Press. ISBN 0-9644774-3-2., p. 35
  4. ^ "Rochester Royals". nbahoopsonline.com. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  5. ^ "Youngstown Bears". nbahoopsonline.com.
  6. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 155
  7. ^ "YOUNGSTOWN BEARS". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Peach Basket Society: 1945-46 Youngstown Bears (NBL)". Peach Basket Society. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  9. ^ "1945-46 Youngstown Bears basketball Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
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