Men's Basketball Faces Duke in March Madness

Colby Brooke

As March Madness rages on one team says farewell to one of its best seasons in recent memory. The Mount’s men’s basketball team went on to win the MAAC championship and their NCAA First Four appearance. But in the end they couldn’t close the deal in round one against Duke.  

On Mar. 15, the Mount took down the Iona Gaels 63-49 in the MAAC Championship. The Mount scored 25 in the first half to Iona’s 26. But the second half is where the Mount took full control scoring 38 points and the Gaels scored only 23. This win pushed their record to 22-12 on the season and it was off to the First Four. Guard Dallas Hobbs (C’27) led the Mount in points with 18.   

With their dominant 22-win campaign still rolling the Mount was on to the next big task.

Facing Washington D.C.’s own American University (AU) in the First Four round. Both teams came into this game with the same exact record of 22-12. Evenly matched on paper but not on the court. The Mount came out hot with 48 in first while American only scored 38. 

The second half was closer than the first with the Mount scoring 35 points and American scoring 34 points. Senior Jedy Cordilia (C’25) and Junior Dola Adebayo (C’26) both had 22 points both career highs for them.  This was a statement victory for the Mount and one that would take them into the first round of March Madness. The bad thing is they would have to face the number one seeded Duke Blue Devils.  

This wasn’t going to be easy at all. It was going to be David trying his hardest to beat Goliath. According to ESPN, the Mount had a 1% chance of beating Duke and going off to the second round.  

There have only been two times in the history of college basketball that a #16 seed took down a #1 seed. That was when University of Maryland Baltimore Campus (UMBC) beat Virginia in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson beat Purdue back in 2023 according to ESPN. But the Mount wasn’t as lucky as UMBC or Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Mount only put up a measly 28 points to Duke’s 54 in the first half. Then in the second half the Mount put up 21 points while Duke put up an additional 39 points to add insult to injury. This was heart-breaking to see our team go all the way just for it to end as fast as it started.   

The team fought hard to the bitter end and after all they did go 12-8 in the division and win the MAAC. They didn’t come home empty handed; they just came home with the wrong trophy. It’s March Madness one of if not the hardest collegiate tournament of all time. It’s truly sad to see such a great team lose.

There is always next year. With newly appointed coach Donny Lind at the helm the Men’s basketball team is in good hands for years to come.