1946–47 Youngstown Bears season

1946–47 Youngstown Bears season
Head coachFrank Shannon (player-coach)
ArenaYoungstown South Field House
Results
Record12–32 (.273)
PlaceDivision: 6th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1946–47 Youngstown Bears season was technically the second and final 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 tenth 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 eleventh and final season of play as a franchise instead of their second and final season of play as a franchise.

Throughout their second and final season in Youngstown, the Bears would continue to see significant struggles and issues that related from the previous season they dealt with (including the tragic passing of young rising star center Huck Hartman to pneumonia from the end of the previous season on March 25, 1946[4]) plague their entire season. While they did see themselves competing for one of the playoff spots in the Eastern Division at one point under new player-coach Frank Shannon (despite being in last place at the time with a 9–21 record by the end of January 1947 and start of February 1947[5]), the Bears would finish their season with only three more wins afterward for the rest of the way throughout this season to finish with a worse 12–32 record for a last place finish in the Eastern Division, with only the Detroit Gems (who later became the Minneapolis Lakers (now known as the Los Angeles Lakers)) having a worse record than them with a 4–40 record. Following this season's conclusion, the Youngstown Bears would join the eventual NBL champion Chicago American Gears as one of two NBL teams to leave the league this season, with Youngstown's departure being more related to financial issues at hand.

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.

1946–47 Youngstown Bears roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
G John Bosak 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922–09–09 Farrell High School (PA)
F/C Irv Brenner 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1913–05–31 Duquesne
G/F Charlie Butler 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1920–08–15 Notre Dame
F/C Bill Farrow 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1918–06–15 Kentucky State
G Paul Herman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921–07–05 Tennessee
G/F Charlie Joachim 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1920–07–21 Mount Union
G/F Bob Kramer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922–04–23 Hammond Tech High School (IN)
F/C Bernie Mehen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1918–09–19 Tennessee
G Red Mihalik 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1916–09–22 Ford City High School (PA)
F/C Jack Mills 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1918–05–08 Mount Union
G Ed Moeller 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1919–01–08 Ohio State
C Bill Sattler 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1916–08–09 Ohio State
G/F Wilbur Schu 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1922–12–18 Kentucky
G Frank Shannon 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1917–11–25 Wittenberg
G/F Emil Sotnyk 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1921–08–21 VMI
G/F Milt Ticco 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1922–09–22 Kentucky
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

[6][7][8]

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 second and final season in the NBL.

# Date Opponent Score Record
1 November 11 Rochester 43–69 0–1
2 November 14 @ Syracuse 64–67 0–2
3 November 17 @ Fort Wayne 53–61 0–3
4 November 18 @ Anderson 58–66 0–4
5 November 19 @ Indianapolis 64–71 0–5
6 November 22 Detroit 62–54 1–5
7 November 23 @ Rochester 45–57 1–6
8 November 27 Toledo 53–69 1–7
9 December 2 Syracuse 36–47 1–8
10 December 3 @ Detroit 54–57 1–9
11 December 6 Buffalo 50–41 2–9
12 December 10 Chicago 60–72 2–10
13 December 21 Indianapolis 66–64 (OT) 3–10
14 December 23 Sheboygan 67–48 4–10
15 December 25 @ Detroit 75–74 (OT)
[73–74 (OT)†]		 5–10
[4–11†]
16 December 26 Syracuse 58–53 6–10
[5–11†]
17 December 30 Fort Wayne 54–57 6–11
[5–12†]
18 January 2 Oshkosh 54–48 (OT) 7–11
[6–12†]
19 January 5 @ Chicago 45–55 7–12
[6–13†]
20 January 7 @ Tri-Cities 49–41 8–12
21 January 8 @ Toledo 62–73 8–13
22 January 9 Indianapolis 50–54 8–14
23 January 11 @ Oshkosh 55–62 8–15
24 January 12 @ Sheboygan 26–56 8–16
25 January 13 Anderson 56–63 8–17
— January 16 @ Buffalo Cancelled[9]
26 January 18 @ Rochester 53–67 8–18
27 January 23 Toledo 51–45 9–18
28 January 26 @ Fort Wayne 40–68 9–19
29 January 27 Rochester 61–68 (OT) 9–20
30 January 30 Tri-Cities 43–56 9–21
31 February 3 Detroit 62–52 10–21
32 February 6 Anderson 78–59 11–21
33 February 10 Chicago 52–64 11–22
34 February 13 Oshkosh 50–54 11–23
35 February 17 Fort Wayne 72–63 12–23
36 February 19 @ Toledo 54–67 12–24
37 February 20 @ Syracuse 44–80 12–25
38 February 27 @ Tri-Cities 39–47 12–26
39 March 1 @ Oshkosh 55–71 12–27
40 March 2 N Chicago 52–65 12–28
41 March 3 @ Anderson 47–63 12–29
42 March 4 @ Indianapolis 48–71 12–30
43 March 6 @ Sheboygan 49–59 12–31
— March 10 @ Buffalo Cancelled[9]
44 March 11 Sheboygan 44–45 12–32

† – Game was originally recorded as a 74–73 overtime victory for the Detroit Gems, but a faulty time clock in the overtime period near the end of the game when Youngstown looked to make an extra, final shot in their game caused the Bears to protest the initial results to NBL Commissioner Ward Lambert. While the game was still recorded as a Gems victory and a Bears defeat for at least one more scheduled NBL game the Gems played in and four more NBL games that Youngstown themselves played, the results of the December 25, 1946 game ended with the commissioner accepting Youngstown's grievances and led to the Bears getting a 75–74 overtime victory that day instead.[10]

Season standings

Pos. Eastern Division Wins Losses Win %
1 Rochester Royals 31 13 .705
2 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 25 19 .568
T–3 Syracuse Nationals 21 23 .477
Toledo Jeeps 21 23 .477
5 Buffalo Bisons /
Tri-Cities Blackhawks‡		 19 25 .432
6 Youngstown Bears 12 32 .273
‡ Buffalo relocated primarily into the state of Illinois during the season and assumed Buffalo's team history
and record in the standings. Buffalo's record was 5–8 and the Tri-Cities' record was 14–17.

References

  1. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates". nbahoopsonline.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Pittsburgh Raiders". nbahoopsonline.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  3. ^ Bradley, Robert (1999). The Compendium of Professional Basketball. Xaler Press. ISBN 0-9644774-3-2., p. 35
  4. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 155
  5. ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., p. 165
  6. ^ "YOUNGSTOWN BEARS". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  7. ^ "Peach Basket Society: 1946-47 Youngstown Bears (NBL)". Peach Basket Society. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  8. ^ "1946-47 Youngstown Bears Statistics". statscrew.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  9. ^ a b "Buffalo Bisons". nbahoopsonline.com.
  10. ^ "Detroit Gems". nbahoopsonline.com.
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