The 2024-25 season marks the 70th Anniversary of Maurice Stokes' last season in a Saint Francis uniform and the team's run to the NIT Semifinals. Stokes and the Frankies provided the small Loretto school with several memorable moments that season, and this date (January 8, 1955) was one for the ages with an upset of the second-ranked team in the nation and longtime rival Duquesne.

The headline from the Altoona Mirror on January 10, 1955 - St. Francis Jolts Bewildred Duquesne, 82-72: Frankies Stun Nation's No. 2 Team In Johnstown; 4,821 on Hand For Upset

The headline from the Union Press-Courier on January 13, 1955 - St. Francis Upsets Duquesne In Basketball Game Of The Year: Outplay Second-Ranking Team In Nation In Thriller On Saturday

Saint Francis and Duquesne played at least 15 times between 1913 and 1955, but the only time the Frankies defeated the Dukes was a 39-32 victory on January 24, 1914. Separated by 78.9 miles, the two teams played thrice the previous season, with Duquesne ranked in the Associated Press (AP) Top 10. Saint Francis lost in Pittsburgh 83-58, 94-64 at home, and 69-63 in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The Dukes also defeated the Red Flash earlier in the 1953-55 season in the Steel City 71-58 on December 20, 1954.

The Frankies came into the game on January 8 just 4-4, with an 88-59 win against Iona at Madison Square Garden being the signature win. Saint Francis was without head coach Dr. Skip Hughes for the season's first eight games. He was in his ninth season as the Frankies' head coach. Hughes had been in the hospital with a severe stomach ailment since early November, and the game against Duquesne would mark his first game of the season and the first since the Dukes ended the Frankies 1953-54 campaign in the NIT.

Duquesne came into the game 7-1 and moved up from No. 8 in the AP Poll to the second spot thanks to wins against No. 4 Dayton (90-75, December 29) and No. 3 La Salle (67-65, December 31) at the Holiday Festival in Madison Square Garden before the New Year. It would be the second straight year the two teams would meet in Johnstown, with the Dukes ranked second in the nation. 

Maurice Stokes paced Saint Francis with 24 points and 26 rebounds. Frank Puschauver added 18 points, Jim McClellan had 16 points, and Bob Watro chipped in 14 points in the upset. 

Saint Francis jumped out to a 27-16 lead midway through the first half before a 16-3 run gave Duquesne a 32-30 lead with three minutes left in the first half. With the game tied at 34, Puschauver gave the Frankies a 36-34 lead at the break on two free throws with 58 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Puschauver went 12-for-12 from the charity stripe in the win.

Saint Francis built a 59-49 lead with McClellan's one-hander from the side, as Phil Short described it in the Altoona Mirror, gave the Frankies the lead it would not relinquish. Duquesne made another run to chip the advantage to 61-58. Led by seven points by Stokes, the Frankies responded with 12 unanswered points to take a 73-58 lead with five minutes left. The Dukes made a couple of late gasps to trim the margin to nine points (77-68, 79-70, and 81-72) but could get no closer.  McClellan also did a great job of defense holding one of the Dukes top scorer without a point in the second half.

The win against Duquesne started an eight-game winning streak and a 15-1 march to the NIT with only a 79-70 setback to John Carroll on February 3. 

Hughes was quoted in the Union Press-Courier as saying, "In the last two games, we've outscored them (the Dukes) in three out of four halves. That victory was long overdue."

"We felt we had a shot," recalls Saint Francis point guard Emil Wandishin in quotes from Pat Farabaugh's October 2013 article from the Johnstown Magazine. "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." 

"When that game was over, the place exploded," recalled Wandishin. "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."

Duquesne head coach Dudey Moore told the Union Press-Courier, "St. Francis played great ball. They shot real well, and they were an inspired team. They were playing on a home floor, and I suppose the crowd inspired them."

The Dukes loss to Saint Francis also cost them a chance to ascend to the No. 1 ranking, according to Farbaugh's article: ":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."

Excerpt from Fred Owens' article in the Union Press-Courier
"St. Francis College's Red Flash of basketball lightning struck down Duquesne's second-ranked Iron Dukes and stunned the college basketball world at the Johnstown War Memorial Arena last Saturday night. With Coach Skip Hughes guiding them for the first time this season, the boys from Loretto stormed to an 82-72 triumph as a full house of 4,841 spectators howled in delight.

It was no fluke - this victory for the little boys from our own College Among The Pine. Striking their most crippling blow at the foul line, they took charge in the first three minutes of play and proved without a doubt they had what it took by fighting back into command after the Madison Square Garden Holiday champs had wiped out an 11-point deficit near the end of the first half.

Although it is not generally a known fact, the college cage circles rumored prior to Saturday's game that if St. Francis knocked off the Dukes, they would almost surely be asked to participate in the NIT again this year. After a sounding win over Iona at Madison Square Garden last month, and adding the big win over Duquesne, it must have impressed the NIT officials about the Frankies ability. Although a bid to New York in March remains to be seen we certainly hope and pray that it is forthcoming for this great St. Francis team."

Excerpt from Phil Short's article in the Altoona Mirror
"Duquesne University's basketball team, which annually fattens its record by defeating St. Francis, found the shoe was on the other foot on Saturday night at Johnstown's War Memorial arena as the inspired Frankies soundly spanked the nation's No. 2 team, 82-72, before 4,841 payees.

Victory over the Bluffties was a longtime coming, but it was evident from the early minutes of play that the Red Flash was about to spring a major surprise in the still young season. The Frankies had gone down to 14 straight defeats at the hands of Dudey Moore's hot shots."

Excerpt from Richard "Pete" Peterson's article on December 7, 2020 
"Ranked second in the nation after winning the Holiday Festival Tournament, Duquesne traveled to nearby Loretto, Pa., to resume their regular season schedule against St. Francis, a team they had handily defeated in an earlier game played in Pittsburgh. With Dick Ricketts hobbled with the ankle injury he suffered against La Salle, the Dukes were upset, 82-72, by St. Francis and Westinghouse High School graduate Maurice Stokes, who would go on to an All-American season and NIT glory."

The game featured four players drafted into the NBA. Stokes and McClellan from Saint Francis and Duquesne's Sihugo Green and Dick Ricketts. Taken by the Cincinnati Royals in 1958 in the sixth round, McCllelan never played in the NBA. 

Stokes' was the second pick in the 1955 draft and played three seasons in the NBA with the Rochester Royals. During his three seasons in the NBA (1955–58), he grabbed more rebounds than any other player with 3,492 (Bob Pettit was second with 3,417) and also amassed 1,062 assists, which was second in the NBA only to Boston Celtics' point guard Bob Cousy (1,583). Stokes was named an All-Star, All-NBA Second Team for all three seasons of his career. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2004. He suffered a stroke and seizure that left him permanently paralyzed on a flight back from a playoff game against the Detroit Pistons on March 15, 1958. He hit his head three days earlier and had to be revived by smelling salts. 

Ricketts, who had 10 points in the game, was drafted No. 1 in the 1955 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks right before Stokes went to the Rochester Royals as the second pick. Ricketts and Stokes would become teammates after the Hawks sold his contract to the Rochester Royals so Ricketts could also pitch for the Rochester Red Wings. According to Wikipedia, Ricketts retired from basketball after Stokes' tragic injury. Ricketts played baseball full-time, reaching Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals from June 14-27, 1959. 

Green, who scored a game-high 26 points before fouling out late in the game, was drafted first overall by the Rochester Royals in the 1956 draft and played his rookie season with Stokes and Ricketts. Green did not play in the NBA in 1957-58 due to his military service with the U.S. Army. He would return to the NBA and have a nine-year career with the Royals, St.Louis Hawks, Chicago Pacers, and Baltimore Bullets. Green was drafted ahead of future NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell.

The paid attendance at the game was 4,841, the third largest in the War Memorial's history. The 1953 appearance of the Harlem Globetrotters and the PCIAA title between Johnstown Catholic and Reading Catholic a year earlier drew larger crowds.

The upset against the Dukes was the first win against a ranked opponent in program history. Saint Francis defeated No. 13 Saint Bonaventure 92-83 on January 24, 1959, for the team's only other win against a ranked opponent in 63 games. 

The 2024-25 Red Flash will head to FDU on January 12, which coincidentally was the next game after the upset against Duquesne on January 12, 1955. It was the first meeting against the Knights in program history that season with a 75-62 decision.