Biography

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Rev. Finley Grant MacDonald was born April 1, 1870, in Sunny Brae, Nova Scotia.

He came to the International YMCA Training School in the fall of 1891 and was a participant in James Naismith's class that winter when basketball was first played. 

MacDonald was one of the best players as the game became popular at the school.

He and Edwin P. Ruggles were the only two students to score in a 5-1 match played between the students and faculty.

This game is often referred to as the first public basketball game, as more than 200 spectators watched Ruggles and MacDonald lead the students to victory over a faculty team led by James Naismith and Amos Alonzo Stagg, who scored the faculty's only point. 

MacDonald did not graduate from the Training School, however, as he decided to return to Nova Scotia to take a position with the Springhill YMCA. He served this Association branch, and another in Reading MA, for three years each before spending time in business.

MacDonald then served as a pastor near his home in Nova Scotia for fifteen years before his passing in 1951.

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