This is an excerpt from an Oct. 2013 Johnstown Magazine article written by Saint Francis professor and former sports information director Pat Farabaugh. In Jan. 1955, St. Francis upset the second-ranked Dukes, 82-72, at the War Memorial. It originally appeared in the magazine as the Red Flash prepared to face the Naval Academy at the Cambria County War Memorial in Nov. 2013 for the team's first game at the venue in decades. Saint Francis hosts the Dukes at the War Memorial on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
The greatest victory in St. Francis men's basketball's 108-year history actually occurred at the War Memorial almost 60 years ago. On the evening of Saturday, Jan. 8, 1955, the "Frankies" — the team would later change its nickname to the "Red Flash" — shocked the college basketball world when it topped second-ranked Duquesne University, 82-72, at the arena.
 
Not coincidentally, St. Francis' greatest win featured the greatest player in the his-tory of the school. Maurice Stokes was eight games into his senior season entering the Duquesne game. The Pittsburgh native had been unstoppable on the basketball court since arriving on the college's campus in the fall of 1951. His career statistics at St. Francis are jaw-dropping: Stokes averaged 22.4points and 25.3 rebounds in 102 career college games. As a point of comparison, the rebounding leader in NCAA Division I basketball last season was Siena College's O.D. Anosike — he averaged 11.4 rebounds per game to lead the nation. This is less than half Stokes' career average at St. Francis.
 
In addition to scoring and rebounding, the 6-foot, 7-inch Stokes could distribute and handle the ball, run the floor, block shots and lockdown opponents defensively. Assist statistics were not recorded at St. Francis during Stokes' college career — had they been kept, he would have ranked among the nation's leaders in this category as well. He would earn All-American honors at the end of the 1954-55 season and go on to enjoy a decorated National Basketball Association career before being forced from the professional game because of an injury in 1958.
 
During his career at St. Francis, Stokes led the Frankies to a 78-27 four-year record and two National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearances. The one squad that he and his teammates had been unable to solve, however — up until that historic evening at the War Memorial — was Duquesne. Stokes was 0-6 against Duquesne in his career entering the game.
 
The Dukes were loaded with talent during the first half of the 1950s. The team's cast of stars included Sihugo Green, Dick Ricketts, Jim Tucker and Fletcher Johnson. Green was a three-time All-American and Ricketts earned All-American distinction in1955. Like Stokes, Duquesne's Green, Ricketts and Tucker would all go on to play in the NBA. In fact, Duquesne is the only school in college basketball history to boast back-to-back No. 1 overall draft picks —Ricketts in 1955 and Green (who was chosen ahead of Boston Celtics' legend Bill Russell) in 1956.
 
St. Francis had not defeated Duquesne since posting a 39-32 victory over the Dukes on Jan. 24, 1914 — a span of more than 40 years. In the two teams' last meeting at the War Memorial in January 1954,the Dukes had pounded SFC, 94-64. "St. Francis just can't cope with the powerful Duquesne Dukes on the hardwood," wrote Pittsburgh sportswriter Jack Sell.
 
On Jan. 8, 1955, however, Stokes and his teammates proved Sell wrong. "We felt we had a shot," recalls St. Francis point guard Emil Wandishin. "The War Memorial was jam-packed. I remember going down in our old school bus. We walked in and the place was already buzzing. Around the concession stand, there were already lots of people gathered. And this was at least an hour before the game.
 
"The contest marked St. Francis head coach Skip Hughes return to the Frankies' sideline. Hughes had missed the first eight games of the season after undergoing surgery. Part of his stomach had been removed because of ulcers. His diet was limited to liquids and jello, but doctors had cleared him to return to the bench. St. Francis, however, was without the services of junior forward Bill Saller. The former Altoona Catholic High School star had rolled his ankle a day earlier in practice.
 
Despite Saller's absence, St. Francis turned in its most balanced team effort in Stokes' collegiate career, much to the de-light of the 4,841 who squeezed into an arena that had been built to seat 4,000.Stokes tallied 24 points and 26 rebounds, but it was far from a one-man show. Freshman Jim McClellan turned in a terrific performance, holding Ricketts to 16 points while chipping in 16. McClellan held the Duquesne star scoreless in the second half. SFC's Frank Puschauver finished with 19 points and did not miss from the free throw line, converting on all 13 of his attempts. Bob Watro, who replaced Saller in Hughes' starting line-up, scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Watro played the entire game after seeing just 15 minutes of action in his team's previous eight contests. Green led all scorers with 26, but he did not get anywhere near the contribution from his supporting cast that Stokes received.
 
While he was ecstatic about his team's victory — a win that one sportswriter wrote "stunned the college basketball world" —Hughes was upset with Duquesne coach Dudey Moore. He believed the Dukes had employed dirty tactics throughout the game and he said as much in his postgame interview with reporters. Hughes accused Ricketts of intentionally elbowing McClellan in the jaw and told reporters that the Dukes' star was "overrated." The game was delayed briefly in the first half after McClellan couldn't get his lip to stop bleeding following the blow from Ricketts. Red droplets of his blood splattered on the War Memorial floor. "There were two All-Americans on the floor," says Hughes. "They were Green and Stokes. Ricketts, to my way of thinking, is no All-American." He called Ricketts' elbow to McClellan "the dirtiest thing I have seen in my 10 years of coaching."
 
In addition to losing to St. Francis for the first time in more than four decades, Duquesne also missed on an opportunity to ascend to the top of the national rankings. On the same night that the Frankies topped the Dukes, Georgia Tech upset top-ranked Kentucky, 59-58, in Lexington. Georgia Tech's win snapped the Wildcats' 129-game winning streak on their home floor. "The almost unbelievable defeat of the Wildcats," wrote a United Press International reporter, "was only a little more surprising than the defeat of mighty Duquesne by little St. Francis of Loretto, Pa."
 
After the game, Moore was looking for excuses to explain how his team lost to St. Francis. He charged that McClellan was "pushing Ricketts all over the place" and said he saw McClellan kick Ricketts in the ankle during the game. He described the game as "typical of Hughes' coaching." Hughes laughed when he was told by a reporter outside the Frankies' locker room that Moore had accused McClellan of instigating Ricketts. "McClellan is too spindly to even try and get rough and too inexperienced to know how to do it and still play ball." Moore described Ricketts as "handicapped" after the alleged kick in the ankle by McClellan. Hughes scoffed at this suggestion. "He (Moore) said Ricketts was hobbling around with a sore ankle in that first half, but to me, he looked like he could run all right." At one point early in the game, the War Memorial's overflow crowd booed Ricketts vociferously after he picked up the ball and kicked it in the direction of the scorers table.
 
Like his coach, Dukes' star Sihugo Green was also in a sour mood following the loss to the Frankies. "They will have to come to the (Duquesne) Gardens next year, and then we'll be holding the gun," said Green after the game. He was alluding to what he believed was poor officiating. Green fouled out of the game at the War Memorial and before leaving the floor, approached the official who whistled him for his fifth foul and sarcastically shook his hand. Hughes dismissed Green's suggestion that the referees factored into the outcome of the game. "Duquesne has held the gun for nine years," said Hughes. He told a reporter that it was the first time St. Francis had received a "50-50 break in officiating" against the Dukes.
 
St. Francis students poured onto the War Memorial's floor and hoisted the Frankies players onto their shoulders after the final buzzer sounded, carrying them off to the locker room. Amidst the mayhem, a young boy grabbed the game ball and headed for one of the arena exits with his prize. Hughes saw the boy and chased after him. The boy lost his footing and slipped as he was trying to make his getaway, and Hughes caught up to him and secured the ball.
 
"When that game was over, the place exploded," recalled Wandishin. The St. Francis point guard believes the victory over Duquesne set the table for the Frankies' run to the NIT semifinals two months later. "That game built up our self-esteem. We were a close-knit group, but that game brought us even closer together. To beat a team like Duquesne, everybody had to take responsibility and that's what happened. "The Dukes would go on to capture the1955 NIT championship and finish the season with a 22-4 final record.