by Navindra Persaud
Everyone loves a story of an underdog rising to the top while going through tough competition. These stories are what make the NCAA tournament so interesting and exciting for college basketball fans, and this year it happened to come from a place that many overlooked: Stephen F. Austin.
No, it’s not the name of a specific player, but the university that had the makings of a good ole Cinderella story. After defeating an excellent VCU team 77-75 in overtime two weeks ago, the SFA Lumberjacks began to make a statement for being a serious contender in the NCAA Tournament.
The 12th-seeded Lumberjacks were able to rally from a 10 point deficit to surpass the fifth-seeded VCU team in an upset which was sure to be sending already damaged brackets in a complete downward spiral.
“We lucked out. That’s March Madness at its best. It’s exhilarating,” said SFA guard Thomas Walkup about his team’s magical win, according to New York Times writer Billy Witz in his March 21 account of the game.
Having won 29 games in a row since losing to East Tennessee State University on November 23, SFA began to make me a believer as well. This team was not on my radar until I witnessed the spectacular comeback against VCU.
With a mere 3.9 seconds left in the game, guard Desmond Haymon drilled a three-pointer while drawing contact from VCU freshman guard JeQuan Lewis, creating a four point play that sent the game into overtime. Lewis’ foul served as an extremely costly mistake to his team, one that can only be explained as a “freshman mistake.”
The team showed incredible control and trust moving forward and it was that exact spirit that would be necessary to try and get past fourth-seeded UCLA Bruins. SFA was 45th in the country in points per game and needed to step up in that area if they expected to get past UCLA, who were 12th in scoring this season.
Unfortunately for the Lumberjacks, their tournament run was cut short as they lost to UCLA last Sunday 77-60 in the second round. However, looking back on the run that SFA had and the amount of games they needed to win in a row to make the tournament, their team proved yet again how excitingly unpredictable the NCAA tournament could be.
SFA brought what the NCAA Tournament is known for: excitement and upset. Year after year teams fight their way into the tournament, and though some of the best have made it to the end, there have also been many instances of upset, like Duke’s loss to Mercer this year in the first round (yet another bracket buster).
Though the Lumberjacks went out in the second round of the tournament, I saw remnants of the Florida Gulf Coast University team from the 2013 NCAA tournament. The 15th seeded FGC team made it to the Sweet Sixteen but fell short in the Elite Eight, losing to the University of Florida 62-60.
Teams like SFA and FGC display what the NCAA tournament is about: those nail-biting, shocking moments that leave fans of their respective teams holding their breath.
It also goes to show that anything can happen in the tournament; teams that no one gives a sliver of hope to are able to prove the nay-sayers wrong and where their run ends depends on their talent and drive.
Despite the loss to UCLA, SFA made quite the impact in the 2013-2014 NCAA Tournament, with the remainder of it shaping up to be yet another memorable championship.