March is for the birds

The men's basketball players at my undergrad alma mater, the mighty Saint Peter's Peacocks, are making noise again in their conference men's basketball tournament, played as always in Atlantic City. Last night they upset Rider in the second round, and so they move on to the semi-finals tomorrow.

The Peacocks, who shocked the world with a run to the Elite Eight in last year's national tourney, saw their coach and star players promptly leave, and during the regular season just ended they posted a measly 7–13 conference record. But last night, as the 10 seed out of 11, the dudes from Montgomery Street came through in the clutch and eliminated a second-seeded Rider squad whose conference record had been 13–7.

Next, Saint Peter's will play the winner of today's tussle between 3-seed Quinnipiac and 11-seed Marist. Quinnipiac had a bye in the first round; Marist upset Manhattan on Tuesday. Quinnipiac and Marist just played on Saturday night, with the Q's winning on the road, 88–76.

Meanwhile, Seton Hall, coached by the Peacocks' old skipper, Shaheen Holloway, suffered a 66–65 loss to lowly DePaul in the Big East tournament yesterday. The Hall, ahead by 4 points with 17 seconds left, choked. They wound up posting a 17–15 record for the year. They'll probably play in the NIT, but they won't be going to the Big Dance.

On the women's side, Saint Peter's basketball probably should not be discussed. The Peahens lost all 30 of their games this year. Their last defeat was in their tourney against Manhattan on Tuesday. Saint Peter's was ahead by 5 going into the fourth quarter, but lost by 3. Ugh.

But here's to the men's squad. It's win or go home every night now. Last year, they refused to give up, and proved that anything is possible. Well, almost anything. Strut up!