Founded: 1943 Folded: 1944 Location: Cleveland, OH Arena: Cleveland Auditorium Built in: Capacity: Titles: none

The Cleveland Chase Brassmen played for just one season (1943-1944). During the season, the team finished last in the the National Basketball League. The team won just three and lost fifteen games. The team still made the playoffs, because only four teams existed in the league at this point. World War II caused a decline in the number of teams in the National Basketball League. The Brassmen lost in the first round of the playoffs. Due to the team’s dismal performance, the Cleveland Chase Brassmen disbanded at the end of the season.

The Brassmen replaced the Chicago Studebakers (Also, known as the Bruins) in the NBL when the Studebakers pulled the team from the league due to World War II. The teams are not the same however, as the Studebakers allowed black players to play and Cleveland refused. The Studebakers were also owned by Bears owner George Halas who kept the rights and the option to re-instate the Studebakers should he see fit.

The Brassmen were allowed to add high scoring guard Mel Riebe to their roster who had previously played for the Studebakers, and a few other players such as his brother Bill also joined Cleveland from Chicago. This is not a franchise transfer but was due mainly to lack of available players.

Year    W   L   %    Playoffs  W  L   %
1943-44 3   15  .166           0  2  .000

Player	Pos	Games	FG	FT	FTA	PTS	FG	FT	FTA	PTS
Mel Riebe	G-F	18	113	97	134	323	6.3	5.4	7.4	17.9
Willard Riebe	G	18	44	23		111	2.4	1.3		6.2
Pete Lalich	F	17	44	21		109	2.6	1.2		6.4
Ned Endress	F-G	16	25	15		65	1.6	0.9		4.1
Willard Swihart	F-C	15	14	11		39	0.9	0.7		2.6
Vito Kubilus	G	16	11	10		32	0.7	0.6		2.0
John Poncar	C-F	18	11	8		30	0.6	0.4		1.7
William Smith	C	4	9	6		24	2.3	1.5		6.0
Frank Garcia	G-F	7	8	7		23	1.1	1.0		3.3
Harold Cihlar	F-C	4	0	1		1	0.0	0.3		0.3
Bill Brownell	C	1	0	0		0	0.0	0.0		0.0