By William Hathaway, Jr.
The NCAA tournament is coming down the final stretch, with the regional finals taking place this past weekend this past weekend in Philadelphia. The St. Peter’s men’s basketball team had a great season with victories over Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue as a #15 seed in the tourney. Unfortunately, the clock struck midnight for Cinderella, as the Peacocks fell in the Regional Final to North Carolina 69-49. While head coach Shaheen Holloway has left for his alma mater Seton Hall, he and the team were honored at St. Peter’s home in Jersey City, as the town hosted a parade for the players and coaches on April 1.
As North Carolina heads to the Final Four, they will play rival Duke for the first time in the NCAA tournament, while Villanova will play Kansas in the other National Semifinal game.
This historic run by the 22-11 St. Peter’s Peacocks is the first of the school’s kind in the modern day NCAA tournament. Years ago, the Peacocks made an incredible run in the 1968 National Invitational Tournament, before losing in the semifinals to Kansas.
In the women’s NCAA tournament, Connecticut beat North Carolina State in two overtimes 91-87 to reach their 14th consecutive Final Four. Louisville defeated Michigan 62-50, Stanford beat Texas 59-50, and South Carolina pounced on Creighton 80-50 to fill out the women’s National Semifinals.
In other local area tournament action, the Seton Hall Lady Pirates program reached the Final Four of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, beating Columbia Lions 78-75 in a Regional Final. The Pirates are 23-12 on the season, and had previous wins over Fairleigh Dickinson University (67-45) Virginia Commonwealth University (70-67) and Drexel University (78-71). They will head off to play Middle Tennessee in the WNIT National Semifinal.
Finally, the NFL has announced that it will change overtime rules in the postseason only to ensure that both teams get at least one possession.
