1905-1906 Buffalo Basketball
by Scott Hollander
University at Buffalo Libraries
The 1905-1906 University of Buffalo basketball team, although new to the school, consisted of players well known throughout the country. The team, as a whole, was one of the biggest in the country averaging 5 feet 11 inches in height and 170 pounds in weight. The following are some of the men who are to represent University of Buffalo that first season: Cooney of Allegheny College, Lozott of Cook’s Academy, Walker of Flushing N. J., Hoffman of Chicago, Ill., and Strebel and Richardson of Buffalo.
The team practiced faithfully for almost two months under Coach Dreher of the Buffalo Central Y.M.C.A. before they played their first game against Cornell on December 1, 1905. Buffalo put up a good fight but lost 27-23 before a small crowd of 400. It was clear that the University had not yet embraced the team as U.B. faculty members openly cheered for Cornell. (see “Cornell Wins from U. of B.” Buffalo Courier, 2 December 1905)
The U.B. team would win their next match against the Tonawanda High School but would lose their next two games including the season finale against Niagara University, their first against a local university. A scheduled match against Canisius College in February was cancelled for some unknown reason.
For more information on basketball at the University at Buffalo, visit the UB Sports History Collection website.
Finding detailed information about the 1905-1906 season is challenging but using local newspaper records the following games were found:
1905-1906 Buffalo Basketball Season
| Date | Home Team | Score | Visiting Team | W-L-T | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/1/19051 | Buffalo | 23 – 27 | Cornell University | L | Buffalo, NY |
| 12/15/19052 | Tonawanda High School | 12 – 33 | Buffalo | W | Tonawanda, NY |
| 2/2/19063 | Canisius College | — | Buffalo | Cancelled | Buffalo, NY |
| 2/15/19064 | Dunkirk Y.M.C.A. | 84 – 13 | Buffalo | L | Dunkirk, NY |
| 3/13/19065 | Niagara University | 20 – 12 | Buffalo | L | Niagara Falls, NY |
FINAL RECORD: 1-3
Home: Convention Hall
Coach: Dreher
- 1 – “Cornell Wins from U. of B.” Buffalo Courier, Buffalo, NY, 2 December 1905.
- 2 – “U. of B. Wins” Buffalo Courier, Buffalo, NY, 16 December 1905.
- 3 – “Basketball” Buffalo Courier, Buffalo, NY, 2 February 1906.
- 4 – “U. B. Defeated” Buffalo Courier, Buffalo, NY, 16 February 1906.
- 5 – “Niagara University Defeated U. of B. at Basketball” Niagara Falls Gazette, Niagara Falls, NY, 14 March 1906.
CORNELL WINS FROM U. OF B.
Local Five Puts Up an Excellent Exhibition of Basketball at Convention Hall.
SCORE IS 27 TO 23.
Member of Faculty of U. of B. Leads in Cheering for Cornell and Is Criticised.
—
The University of Buffalo basketball team and the Cornell Varsity five met at Convention Hall last night and after an exciting struggle Cornell was returned the winner by a score of 27 to 23. The score at the end of the first half was Cornell 12. U. of B. 7.
The local boys put up a battle that surprised many. Their playing was of first-class order, and when it is taken into consideration that they have been working together but two weeks their exhibition of the game was good. A crowd of about 400 witnessed the contest, including many members of the Cornell Alumni.
Considerable surprise was occasioned among the U. of B. followers by the fact that one of the faculty of the local university lead in the cheering for Cornell. “It showed a lack of college spirit of which I am ashamed.” said a U. of B. man last night after the game.
The U. of B. team made a mistake of playing off too far in the early part of the game. As the contest progressed, however, the local five played a contest even up with its opponents, and in the latter’ part of the last half threw four of five goals. If the U. of B. aggregation had followed out the line of play put up in the latter part of the game a different story might have been written.
For the Buffalo team Lozott played a star game. His work at center was a feature of the game and he put it all over the Cornell center.
The crowd at the game was not as large as was expected. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that this is the first game arranged by the U. of B. team.
— Buffalo Courier, December 2, 1905