Led by hall of fame member Bruce McGregor and assisted by Al Keyon, the 1975-1976 men’s basketball team produced a story book season as they posted the program’s second-ever undefeated regular season and the first since the 1960-1961 season while downing opponents with ease all season long.
Husson began the season by reeling off 27-straight victories and entered the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 5 North Division Championship tournament as the top seed. The Braves earned a 108-67 win over the fourth seeded Terriers of Thomas College in the semifinals before picking up a 68-61 triumph over No. 2 seed the University of Maine at Farmington Beavers in the championship round to advance to the NAIA district 5 championship game against the south division’s top seed Roger Williams University Hawks (formerly Roger Williams College). Husson defeated the Hawks, 100-64, to capture back-to-back NAIA district 5 titles for the first time in program history while earning the right to represent the district in the NAIA national championship.
The Braves’ traveled to Kansas City, Missouri with a 30-0 record - the longest undefeated streak in program history at the time of its induction and entered the national tournament as one of the two undefeated schools in the 32-team tournament. Husson’s first round opponent would be none other than nationally ranked California Baptist University (formerly California Baptist College), the nation’s scoring leader at 102.8 points per game. The Braves led at halftime before eventually falling to the No. 10 ranked Lancers, 95-81, ending a legendary season for the Husson University men’s basketball program.
When compared to all other NAIA teams that year, Husson was near the top of four separate statistical categories. The Braves were ranked third nationally in both rebounds per game (51.6) and team field goal percentage (.574) while scoring an average of 99.4 points per game which ranked second in the nation. They also posted a season average team scoring margin of 31.9 points, which put them first nationally.
A total of six individual Husson University Sports Hall of Fame members helped comprise the 1975-1976 squad, including Walter Edwards ’76, Joe Mesi ’79, Ish McKitchen, Kevin Saunders, Ray Clark and Tim Murphy. The team was captained by Clark and Edwards, and other team members included, Tom Philbrick, John Lucas, Tim McMahon, Dan St. Louis, Brian Walsh, Charlie Prey, student managers Andy Sanderson, Al Levitz and Jeff Levitz and statistician Don Coffin.
Four players collected post season accolades — Edwards collected NAIA All-American honorable mention, Northeast College Conference All-Conference, NAIA All-New England, NAIA all-district 5, AP All-New England Small College First Team, Maine Men’s Basketball Coaches and Writers Association All-State First Team honors and was named the AP New England Small College Player of the Year. Clark earned NAIA all-district 5 and MMBCWA All-State honorable mention recognition. McKitchen was named to the NAIA all-district 5 first team, MMBCWA all-state first team and to the NCC all-conference team. Philbrick received MMBCWA all-state honorable mention honors. MacGregor was chosen as the MMBCWA coach of the year.
