A look at the front page of The Olean Times Herald (OTH) on Monday, February 27, 1961, revealed little about the tumultuous event that took place two days prior at the Olean Armory. The lead story was about area flooding, though a top-page banner indicated that Niagara had used St. Bonaventure as a “stepping stone” to the NIT Tournament and pointed to more stories in the sports section.
The consecutive home victory streak, started in 1948, had neared triple digits. St. Bonaventure had won 99 straight games at home. It started under Coach Ed Melvin before Coach Eddie Donovan took over the Bona program in 1953. As a reserve on the Bona team in 1947-48, Donovan knew the history all too well.
The front page had no story of the consecutive home wins. One of the main article in the sports section headlined, “The Fortress Falls…100 Never Came…Joy for One…Tears for Another.”
Win #100 was denied by the same team upon which the win streak started: the Purple Eagles of Niagara University.
Coach Donovan’s team had cruised by DePaul, Providence, Boston College, and third-ranked Bradley earlier that month. The win against Bradley, played before 15,497 in Madison Square Garden, came after it ended the Bonnies’ season in the 1960 NIT. Coach Eddie Donovan’s squad handed DePaul their seventh straight loss, 78-69, on February 18 in the Buffalo Auditorium.
Siena visited the Armory on February 23. In the preview story, an OTH reporter wrote, “It’s practically unanimous that the hapless men of Siena will be the 99th Armory victim.” The reporter was correct: The Saints were marched out of Olean, 99-57.
Then came February 25 with Niagara’s visit to the Armory. St. Bonaventure won convincingly at Niagara, 88-68, about six weeks prior. By this point in the season, the Bonnies were 21-1, losing only to the top ranked team in the country, Ohio State, in late December.
However, the Little Three matchup was not a game to be taken lightly. On the day of the game, a writer for The Olean Times Herald predicted, “It could be rough sledding before the century mark is recorded.” Niagara entered as a 19.5-point underdog, but was hoping for a post-season NIT invitation. An upset against the second-ranked Bonnies would add to its resume.
But this was the Armory…where a loss hadn’t been known since Truman was president. Unique in its own way, the Armory offered something special for those sitting in the first row of the courtside bleachers: Their feet actually straddled the out-of-bounds lines.
Smoking was prohibited in the Armory. However, according to an Associated Press writer, many fans in the inevitable capacity crowds of 2000 would smoke in the outside foyer during halftime. This would drift to the gym, and, by the start of the second half, the teams would “need radar to find the bench.”
One Bona fan, Pat (Tiger) Flynn, recalled going to Armory games from the age of six. “It was always a great experience, especially when Niagara would come in,” he said.
National media, including Sports Illustrated, headed to the corner of Times Square and Barry Street for the February 25 spectacle. The standing room only crowd was an estimated 2300. On top of the streak, it was Tom Stith’s final home game in a Bona uniform.
Ten first-half turnovers were a part of the five-point Bona deficit at halftime. St. Bonaventure tied the score at 61 with 11:20 left, but Niagara surged ahead behind 70 percent shooting in the second half. Though Stith scored 33 points in his home finale, Niagara had four starters in double figures, led by Al Butler with 24 points (11-19 from the floor).
Flynn, then nine years old, sat with his neighbor at midcourt in the Armory balcony. “Every time they [St. Bonaventure] rallied, there was Butler hitting a shot,” Flynn said. “Niagara just had control of the game.”
Final score: Niagara 87, St. Bonaventure 77. The OTH story summarized the sentiment: “It was as final as death.” The following morning was a somber one for Bona fans. According to the OTH writer, they were “dazed as though in disbelief that a dear friend had departed from this life.”
Flynn said that he “cried like a baby” after the Niagara loss.
“I lived and died with Bonas,” he added. “It was just so unbelievable that they lost that game. I think everybody thought they were going to win. As the game went on, you knew that was not going to happen.”
However, some solace was present in the opponent that cracked the streak. “While Bonaventure fans were devastated they lost that game,” Flynn remembered, “they probably would have been more upset if it had been someone like Canisius. Bonas and Niagara seemed to have a good rapport with each other.”
A part of that seemed to be the respect given to Coach Gallagher, who was carried off the floor by Niagara fans after the game. Even before the final buzzer, Donovan walked to the Niagara bench to congratulate Gallagher, who got the game ball with Donovan’s approval. Afterward, according to an OTH story, both Bona and Niagara fans stopped by the Niagara locker room “to say ‘nice going’ to a nice guy.” The story added that Gallagher was as gracious in beating the Bonnies than he was in his previous nine losses or so to them.
The OTH called it “the upset of upsets in ‘Little Three’ basketball history.” And win #100 was never reached.
