The 1945-46 UBC Thunderbirds senior A men’s basketball team is considered one of the best teams in UBC sports history.

During the 1945-46 season, the Thunderbirds amassed a 28-6 record (.824 winning percentage). The team won the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Conference Championships, holding a 9-1 record in playoff games.

Highlights of the season included defeating the famed Harlem Globetrotters (42-38), the Universities of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, Washington State College, and the Victoria Dominoes (in an exhibition game). The team also participated in an end of the season exhibition tour which helped raise funds to construct UBC’s War Memorial Gym.

Team Members: Ole Bakken, Reg Clarkson, Harry Franklin, Garde Gardom (manager), Ralph Henderson, Harry Kermode, Pat McGeer, Hal McKenzie, Ritchie Nichol, Gordie “Gordy” Sykes, Bob Osborne (coach), Johnny Owen (trainer), Dick Penn (manager), Sandy Robertson, Ron Weber.

This team is also inducted in the UBC Sports Hall of Fame. For their UBC biography, please visit www.ubcsportshalloffame.com