The massive dance could also be over for the St. Peter’s Peacocks – however the native followers who rallied across the small Jersey Metropolis college received’t quickly overlook the squad’s historic Cinderella run to the NCAA event’s Elite Eight.
“They've confirmed to do one thing superb,” Maya Barrow, 32, advised The Put up from a packed viewing get together at Jersey Metropolis’s Hudson Corridor because the Peacocks have been dropping to the College of North Carolina Tar Heels en path to a crushing defeat on Sunday night time.
“They’ve put Jersey Metropolis on the map. They’re superb. We're one hundred pc behind them,” Barrow mentioned from the beer corridor the place over 300 followers had gathered to cheer on the underdogs.
Forward of tip-off, expectations for the sport have been tempered for the crew that received the hearts of New Jersey, however spirits have been excessive as the gang danced to NJ-native Bon Jovi’s “Residing on a Prayer” waving blue peacock feathers.
Saint Peter’s graduate pupil Tom Petrillo, 31, was elated that the crew had made it into the Elite Eight — changing into the primary fifteenth seed within the event’s historical past to take action.
“You bought to be joyful for them as a result of they obtained this far,” mentioned Petrillo, who was sporting a Peacock Satisfaction T-shirt. “No person anticipated for them to get this far. Everybody thought they’d be out within the first spherical.”
“This was a troublesome, robust sport,” he mentioned “You’re speaking a few college that has 4,000 college students taking part in North Carolina … It places us on the map. It says come right here, we’re good.”
The eighth seed Tarheels in the end proved to be too overwhelming for the scrappy, defensively-minded Saint Peter’s crew. UNC rode a hot-shooting first half to take a commanding 38-19 lead over Saint Peter’s after the Peacocks began the sport 4-20 from the sector.
The second half was a lot of the identical as Carolina outmuscled and outshot St. Peter’s to a 69-49 remaining on the way in which to its twenty first Closing 4 look – essentially the most in NCAA historical past.
At a sport viewing occasion on campus, Saint Peter’s College college students, decked within the Peacocks’ white and blue, by no means gave up cheering for the struggling crew at the same time as UNC’s lead topped 20 factors.
However as time wound down, actuality set in.
“It’s tragic, you already know what I imply. They have been proper there. You have been made to consider all the things was attainable,” mentioned Jersey Metropolis resident Alex Corridor, 22, after storming out of Hudson Corridor with eight minutes left of the sport. “They did a number of good. You'll be able to really feel the power in each bar in Downtown Jersey Metropolis.”
Chris Petitt, 61, who grew up in Jersey Metropolis, held an empty martini glass O’Hara’s Bar and Grill in Jersey Metropolis as the ultimate minutes ticked off the clock. To him, the Elite Eight loss was “nonetheless an accomplishment. It’s not a failure.”
“It sucks. I’m upset. I’m a method again St Peter’s fan. Noticed them again in ‘74 … I want they made extra of a sport of this,” he mentioned.
Pettit mentioned he thinks Carolina found out methods to beat St. Peter’s, who shocked the nation after upsetting 2-seeded Kentucky and 7-seeded Murray State within the previous rounds.
“For a crew that small to go this far is super. It’s going to raise the economic system of Jersey Metropolis.”
Because the clock ran out in O’Hara’s, the gang erupted into chants of “Let’s go Peacocks!” in spit of the 20-point defeat.
“I feel that they had nothing to lose. It felt prefer it was all gravy after they beat Kentucky,” Jordan Rabinowitz, 31, ofJersey Metropolis mentioned after the sport. “I’m upset that they didn’t get to the Closing 4. It will have added one other layer to the magnitude of how the run has been.”
North Carolina will face arch-rival Duke College for the primary time ever within the Closing 4 in a part of a storybook ending to the profession of legendary Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, who's retiring after this season.
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