Coach: Lew Andreas

There were high expectations on the hill for Lew Andreas' Orangemen. They had the consensus top team in the country the previous season, and were returning four of five starters, including one of the top players in the country in Vic Hanson. Charlie Lee, Gotch Carr and Bill Eisemann returned from the starting unit, and Stan Richtmeyer was set to move into the starting unit replacing Phil Rakov. Unfortunately Richtmeyer would have academic problems and would be ineligible to play the first semester. Andreas would move Carr from guard to forward, and senior reserve Charley Cook would start at guard.

The season started well for the Orange easily beating Hobart, Rochester and Clarkson. Hanson would score a school record 26 points against Hobart in the opener. In the Clarkson game they held the Engineers scoreless for the first 18 minutes, and led at halftime 23-1. They had the mighty Quakers of Penn come up and the Orangemen quickly made that an easy game, winning 33-16. Bill Eisemann was proving to be a solid scoring threat, giving Syracuse a solid inside presence.

Syracuse set out for a Midwest road trip to start the new year. They met a formidable Michigan team in what turned out to be a tight game. Michigan's Harrigan tightly covered Hanson, along with some double teams, and held Hanson to making only three out of twenty field goals. The Orange would end up losing 31-24. Wisconsin followed a simi liar strategy holding Hanson to 8 points. The rest of the Orangemen struggled without their leader and playmaker, and they ended up losing 31-24.

Syracuse returned home to face a solid but average Pittsburgh team. The Panthers were ready to play however, and Hanson's shooting woes continued. The Orange trailed throughout the game, until the the closing minutes when Hanson made his first basket of the game, giving them a short lived lead. The game would go into overtime. Pitt would pull out the victory 29-28 in the overtime period, giving the Orangemen their third consecutive loss, and their first home court loss in three seasons. Hanson would end up with 11 points, on 9-13 free throw shooting, but only the lone field goal.

The Orangemen would struggle offensively for a few more games but pull out victories against weaker Cornell and St. Lawrence programs. The team finally got back into rhythm against Niagara, and pulled out to a big early lead. Niagara battled back to make it close, but Syracuse still won 29-23. Richtmeyer would return in February with his grades improved. The Orangemen would win their next few games easily.

The Orangemen would meet Penn again on February 16th down in Philadelphia. This time, the Quakers were ready, as they easily handled Syracuse 29-22.

Syracuse would finish the season with five victories, Hanson hitting stride and scoring 20+ points in three of the contests. By seasons end, the Orangemen were 15-4, had the player of the year in Vic Hanson, and a bright duo of big men for the future in Richtmeyer and Eisemann. However, with the high expectations before the season, the final results were not as well as expected.

© RLYoung 2005, 2006, 2008, 2015