The Lancaster Red Roses were one of six teams to play in the Eastern Professional Basketball League's inaugural season, and stayed in the league for nearly ten years (including a stint as the Lancaster Rockets, which will be covered in another web entry).
Although the team never won a championship, it still initially drew tremendous crowds to its home court, the Lancaster Armory. Much of the early attention to the Red Roses came from its top scorer in that first season, Stan "Whitey" Von Neida, who set a league record with 46 points in one game, and nearly 700 points scored in a 30-game season. It was on the strength of Von Neida's shooting that the Red Roses made it to the President's Cup finals, and a big three-game series against the Wilkes-Barre Barons.
Although Lancaster had a perfect 15-0 record at the Lancaster Armory (it would take another 40 years before another league team, the 1990-91 Albany Patroons, would go undefeated at home during the regular season), the team had to move their post-season contests to McCaskey High School because the Armory's bleachers were scheduled to be removed after the building's other sporting tenant, Franklin & Marshall College, finished their winter sports season. Although McCaskey High was a bigger venue than the Armory, the Roses played the regular season at the "drillshed" because the local school district forbade Sunday professional games in its facilities.
Lancaster and Wilkes-Barre met for the inaugural "President's Cup" finals, but there was a dispute over where all three games would be played. In the semifinals, each competing team flipped a coin to determine who would host a deciding third game. Both Lancaster and Wilkes-Barre arrived in the finals on the strength of 2-0 playoff sweeps, but because both teams were fiercely devoted to their home field advantages, neither team would agree to chance a deciding third game on the enemy's home court. In the end, the final game of the series was played on a neutral court - Allentown's Rockne Hall - in which the Roses lost.
After the 1946-47 season, the Red Roses and Barons left the EPBL, joining the rival American Basketball League. But after losing five of their first six games in the ABL, the Roses jumped back to the Eastern League, and the EPBL schedulemakers went back to work on a 28-game 8-team league. Although the team retained most of their original ABL lineup, they were without Whitey Von Neida, who joined the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the NBL (later becoming the NBA).
The Red Roses' third season was a disaster. The franchise started league play about two weeks after the rest of the teams had their home openers, and stumbled through a 2-3 record in their first five contests. After missing a scheduled road game to Williamsport, the Roses were suspended from play by EPBL President William Morgan, ruling that the Roses did not make a viable effort to get to Williamsport for the game. After Lancaster owner Rothermel "Roxy" Wise and business manager Benny Volk explained they could not make the trip due to hazardous road conditions, Lancaster was restored to the EPBL. But barely a few days later, the Roses filed for bankruptcy, claiming liabilities of $3,824.05 and assets of $548.15. Immediately the Roses franchise was terminated from the league, with a new entity, the Lancaster "Rockets," assuming the rest of the Roses' scheduled dates.
More information on the Red Roses will be posted in the future.
Regular Season Standings
EPBL STATISTICS
W L PCT GB Result
1946-1947 20 10 .667 2.5 lost EPBL championship
1947-1948 14 14 .500 5 lost in semifinals
1948-1949 2 3 .400 xx expelled from league
1953-1954 15 15 .500 5 lost EPBL championship
1954-1955 10 20 .333 9 did not make playoffs
EBA STATISTICS
W L PCT GB Result
1975-1976 19 5 .792 3.5 Lost EBA championship
1976-1977 12 10 .545 7 did not make playoffs
1977-1978 19 12 .613 5 Lost EBA championship
CBA STATISTICS
W L PCT GB Result
1978-1979 14 26 .350 6 not in playoffs
1979-1980 12 22 .353 8.5 not in playoffs
|
Home Court: |
| ALL-STAR GAME: Never hosted. | |
PLAYOFFS
EASTERN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE
1946-1947 Won in semifinals over Hazleton, 2 games to 1
Lost EPBL championship to Wilkes-Barre, 1 game to 2
1947-1948 lost in semifinals over Reading, 2 games to 1
1948-1949 expelled from league
1953-1954 Won in semifinals over Sunbury, 2 games to 0
Lost EPBL championship to Williamsport, 1 game to 2
1954-1955 did not make playoffs
EASTERN BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
1975-1976 Won in semifinals over Scranton, 3 games to 2
Lost EBA cChampionsihp to Allentown, 2 games to 3
1976-1977 did not make playoffs
1977-1978 Won in quarterfinals over Long Island, 2 games to 0
Won in semifinals over Anchorage, 3 games to 2
Lost EBA championship to Wilkes-Barre, 2 games to 3
CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
1978-1979 did not make playoffs
1979-1980 did not make playoffs
| |