Hall of Fame
Sometimes a college is fortunate enough to have a truly great athletic team. Those successes generate exquisite bonding of various institutional constituents otherwise unexplainable. With this extraordinary success, there is a myriad of exciting and almost unbelievable occurrences. Institutional pride multiplied by the interest level of people and groups even remotely connected is dramatically increased and the identity association can grow to incredible levels. Such occurrences accompanied the success begun and achieved by the 1952-53 men’s basketball team and was sustained by the 1953-54 team at Pasadena College.
The 1952-53 team was comprised of Lowell Bassett, Mel Brower, Doyle Cozzen, Ten Cummins, John Davis, Steve Graham, Marv Hoover, Bobby Hopkins, Victor Joe, Ralph Leech, Frank Lockridge, Jerry Price and Earl Wheeler. This crew reeled off an unbelievable 31-straight victories, something very few teams in the United States have ever done before or since. Following a loss to Whittier in the final regular season game, they recovered to beat the same opponent 68-67 in the playoffs and also topped Sacramento State 66-48. This resulted in their first District Championship and a trip to Kansas City to participate in the NAIA National Tournament—the country’s largest and oldest single site collegiate basketball championships. Even before the convenience of the mass communications we enjoy today, word had spread and the Crusader fans of the Southland expanded nationally. The Church of the Nazarene assumed a growing pride connected with the ownership of Pasadena College that created a flurry of excitement in Kansas City, the church’s headquarters.
During those days, in the LA area which was pre MLB, NFL or NBA, it was not unusual for the Crusaders to receive the headlines in the Pasadena and Los Angeles newspapers sports pages. The sports sections often gave PC coverage over UCLA and USC. John Davis, Ralph Leech and Bobby Hopkins, who could sometimes score as many as forty points each dominated the individual highlights of the team news. The fast pace and flair of this group earned them the nickname the “Firehouse Five,” and brought much praise to the institution. The obvious elements of team unity and dependence on each member was always present. The not so obvious elements of daily dedication, willingness to give and take, to accept roles, to remain focused and to sustain the extraordinary achievement of this team indeed merit unusual recognition. Their season ended with a runaway defeat over Ricks College of Idaho 107-72 and a close loss to Finley of Ohio 93-96 at nationals.
