[ad_1]
Mar. 11—Golden trophy in hand, members of the Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball team stepped off the bus onto campus amid a wave of cheers and applause Wednesday afternoon.
The Mountaineers beat Bryant University Tuesday night 73-68 and returned home to the Mount Wednesday as six-time Northeast Conference champions and bound for next week’s NCAA tournament.
Family and friends eagerly awaited the team’s arrival under sunny skies, some of them holding blue and white pom-poms. Escorted by fire trucks from Vigilant Hose Company, the team’s bus traveled through downtown Emmitsburg and took a loop around campus before parking in front of the PAC building.
A few athletes carried large signs emblazoned with their new identity: NEC champions.
Guard Damian Chong Qui, the team’s leader, held the championship trophy, draped with the game’s net. He scored 17 of his team-high 21 points in the second half.
“It means the world,” Chong Qui said, as Queen’s “We Are The Champions” blared from speakers. “We’ve been through a lot because of COVID.”
This year’s regular season was shorter than usual due to the pandemic, and health screenings are part of the routine now.
Chong Qui pointed to teammate Malik Jefferson’s free throws in the final minute of the game as a pivotal moment. He had 10 points and snagged 15 rebounds.
Jefferson said, in that moment, his mind was on his training.
“I just thought about all the free throws I shot after practice, all the times my coach told me just to, ‘Calm down, don’t freak out,’ you know?” Jefferson said.
Coach Dan Engelstad said the team exuded confidence in the leadup to the contest.
“We’ve been putting in so much time and effort over [these] past couple months,” Engelstad said. “With all of the adversity that these guys have gone through, for them to get to the other end and now see the fruits of their labor, it’s special. You see all that emotion come out when you win a championship and, you know, the path to get there was so unique this year.”
Junior Nana Opoku added, “Some people don’t even get to have this opportunity. I just feel so blessed, I’m just so happy … This is a crazy feeling being able to do something like this.”
Next, the Mount will learn their NCAA fate in Sunday’s selection show, which airs at 6 p.m. on CBS. The tournament, which begins next Thursday, will be played entirely in the state of Indiana to limit travel due to the pandemic.
If the Mountaineers are selected to play in the First Four round, which they were in 2014 and 2017, their next game will be Thursday. Otherwise, they will play their first game on Friday or Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
Follow Mary Grace Keller
on Twitter: @MaryGraceKeller
[ad_2]
Source link
