MSM hoops: A shot at greatness

The Mount takes on Sacred Heart in bid for NCAA tournament

By Stan Goldberg/Frederick News-Post Staff

Three busloads of Mount St. Mary's basketball fans will leave the school this morning for Fairfield, Conn., where they'll watch their team try and earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Mount St. Mary's will take on Sacred Heart University today at 7 p.m. in the Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship Game, which will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Between 120 and 130 people will be riding on the three buses, according to Mike Hardisky, assistant athletic director for External Affairs at the Mount.

There is one bus for the pep band and the cheerleaders, another for the students and a third for season-ticket holders.

The trip should take about six hours.

Meanwhile, the Mountaineers team left at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and arrived at Fairfield at 3:15 p.m. It stopped at the hotel for a short time and then went to the William H. Pitt Center, the site of the game, for practice.

The trip was a lot easier this year than it was when the Mountaineers went to Fairfield for a regularly scheduled game last year. Because of bad weather, that trip took 24 hours.

Students who cannot travel to Fairfield will watch tonight's game at the Knott Auditorium on the Mount campus.