It just wasn’t meant to be for Elon
March 11th, 2008, 11:12 am · Post a Comment · posted by Alex Kreitman
Elon University’s magical and improbable Southern Conference Tournament run came to an end Monday night as Davidson halted the Phoenix with a 65-49 victory in the championship.
Elon stood one win away from earning its first ever berth into the NCAA Tournament, but with the loss it wasn’t meant to be. The Phoenix fought hard, but it just looked like it ran out of gas at the end.
Shooting just above 35 percent wasn’t going to get it done and unfortunately Elon wasn’t able to crack 50 points in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN2. Despite the loss, Elon fans got what they’ve been waiting for a long time.
We got to see our small private university play on a big stage when it counts. Even though it would’ve been a lot better if Elon had won, we still got there, to the end and almost did the unthinkable. Elon’s run was special and always will be. Winning three games in three days, a fourth in four days was just too much to ask.
I guess I didn’t realize how big a deal it was until last night. I watched the game on Elon’s campus and was amazed at the school spirit for the Phoenix, a pride that the university always lacked. Where students chose shirts and ties over maroon and gold at many sporting events. Where girls wore sunglasses and fancy sun dresses instead of an Elon t-shirt and some face paint.
But not Monday night. Fans were proud of Elon and hung onto their seat after every shot, block and rebound. The crowd erupted after every 3. It was great. The mood after the game wasn’t of disappointment, but of satisfaction and pride. It didn’t matter that Elon had lost because now, for the first time ever, we felt that we belonged there on that national stage. The feeling was of hope that we would get there again some day soon.
The only sad sight was looking at pictures of Elon players after the game. I felt really bad for them and even sad for them, knowing how close they came to reaching their goal. You can see the sadness in their eyes and hearts, feeling their pain.
But looking forward with a positive attitude is the way to go. As I wrote Monday, things are on the way up at Elon. The football team is a contender, the baseball team is consistently good and every other team is falling in line. It’s a good time to be an Phoenix fan.
