USA BASKETBALL HISTORY
USA MEN’S WORLD CUP TEAM 1954 RESULTS
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL • OCTOBER 22-NOVEMBER 5, 1954
Because of tournament timing, the United States was represented by the Peoria Caterpillars. The Caterpillars were a talented and experi- enced group which had not only won the 1954 AAU national title but had also claimed top AAU honors in 1953 and 1952. After earning a silver four years earlier at the inaugural World Championship, the U.S. cruised through the 1954 competition with a perfect 9-0 slate to earn its first World title. The USA won by an average of more than 25 points. The U.S. bettered Canada 59-37 as Kirby Minter scored 16. Down 26-24 at halftime, the U.S. rolled in the second half to record a lopsided 73- 51 win over Peru as Bill Johnson and Minter accounted for 22 and 19 points, respectively. Opening play in the final round, the U.S. was given a run for its money by the Philippines. Trailing by 25-22 at the half, the Philippines rallied and took a 31-26 lead. However, the USA offense got rolling and with three minutes remaining the U.S. had control 49-30 before finally get- ting a 56-43 victory. The U.S. next discarded of France 70-49 as Minter and Dick Retherfield each scored 15 points. Then, with Bertram Born scoring 15 points, registered a 64-59 victory over Uruguay. The fast-breaking Uruguay trailed the Americans 30-26 at halftime. With nine minutes remaining, Uruguay only trailed 49-47, but the U.S. closed strong. Born was high scorer for the U.S. team with 15 points, while Retherford added 14. Behind Born’s 17 points, the U.S., for the second time of the competition, easily defeated Canada 84-50, then the U.S. recorded a 72-28 victory over Formosa. All 11 healthy U.S. players scored in the win with Born leading the way with 14 points. Again, every available U.S. player scored and the U.S., behind 13 points from Johnson and 10 from Don Penwell, had no trouble over Israel 74-30. The USA’s sixth consecutive win, coupled with Brazil’s sixth straight win, set the stage for the championship game between the two unbeat- en squads. With a crowd numbering 35,000 in attendance, the U.S. put this game away early. The U.S. led 35-19 at half and went on to lead by as many as 27 points in the second half before getting the 62-41 victory. Ed Solomon paced the USA attack with 14 points, Born added 12 and Joe Stratton was credited with 11 points.
1954 USA MEN’S WORLD CUP TEAM ROSTER
1954 USA RESULTS (9-0)
NAME
POS HGT WGT AGE AFFILIATION (SCHOOL)
HOMETOWN
Canada
W, 59-37 W, 73-51 W, 56-43 W, 70-49 W, 64-59 W, 84-50 W, 72-28 W, 74-30 W, 62-41
Peru
Bertram Born Richard Gott Bill Johnson Allen Kelley Kirby Minter Don Penwell Forrest Hamilton Dick Retherford Kendall Sheets
C F F F G F C F G
6-9 6-6 6-5 6-8 5-11 6-6 6-9 6-7 6-2 6-5 5-10
200 185 180 225 161 200 190 210 190 200 160
Peoria Caterpillars (Kansas) Peoria Caterpillars (Murray State) Peoria Caterpillars (SW Mo. St.) Peoria Caterpillars (Nebraska) Peoria Caterpillars (Kansas) Peoria Caterpillars (SE Okla. St.) Peoria Caterpillars (Okla. City U.) Peoria Caterpillars (Bald.-Wallace) Peoria Caterpillars (Okla. A&M) Peoria Caterpillars (W. Va. Tech) Peoria Caterpillars (Colgate)
Medicine Lodge, KS Kansas City, MO
Philippines
Crocker, MO
France
21
Peoria, IL
Uruguay Canada Formosa
McCune, KS Durant, OK
24
Oklahoma City, OK Westerville, OH
23
Israel Brazil
El Reno, OK Osage, WV
Ed Solomon Joe Stratton
F
23 22
G
Ridgewood, NJ
FINAL STANDINGS
HEAD COACH: Warren Womble, Peoria Caterpillars (IL) ATHLETIC TRAINER: Pat Doyle, Peoria Caterpillars (IL)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
United States (7-0)
Brazil (6-1)
Philippines (5-2)
France (3-4)
1954 USA MEN’S WORLD CUP TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS
Formosa (2-5)* Uruguay (2-5)* Canada (2-5)*
NAME
G/S
FGM-A
PCT
FTM-A
PCT
REB
PTS
Kirby Minter Bertram Born Bill Johnson Ed Solomon Joe Stratton Don Penwell
9 9 9 9 9 8
16- 22- 17- 13- 14- 8-
7-
100/ 11.1 94/ 10.4 73/ 8.1 69/ 7.7
Israel (1-6)
12-
Paraguay (3-0)
Dick Retherford 9
6-
10. Chile (2-1) 11. Yugoslavia (1-2) 12. Peru (0-3) *Final standings determined by point differential between tied teams.
12-
8- 8- 3- 5- 1- 0-
63/ 7.0 55/ 6.1 52/ 6.5 42/ 4.7 35/ 3.9 24/ 3.4 7/ 1.2
9-
16-
Kendall Sheets 8
10-
Allen Kelley
9
8- 7- 1-
Forrest Hamilton 7
Richard Gott USA TOTALS OPP. TOTALS
6 9 9
229- 119-
156- 150-
614/ 68.2 388/ 43.1
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