Mount St. Mary’s makes Cinderella case after beating American in First Four

Mount St. Mary’s is still dancing. After defeating American 83-72 in a First Four matchup on Wednesday night, the Mountaineers are making a case to be this year’s NCAA Tournament Cinderella darling.

“The Mount giving me 2023 FDU vibes,” one college basketball fan wrote on X, comparing Mount St. Mary’s to the No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson squad that toppled top seed Purdue in college basketball’s March Madness two seasons ago.

Wednesday’s win was promising, but the sportsbooks aren’t convinced that a Mountaineers run is in the cards.

No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s faces No. 1 seed Duke on Friday. The 32.5-point underdog hopes to become just the third 16th seed in NCAA Tournament history to win in the round of 64.

Forwards Dola Adebayo and Jedy Cordilia led the charge for the Mountaineers alongside guard Dallas Hobbs in the play-in game in Dayton, Ohio. The trio totaled 61 points, including a handful of highlight-worthy dunks by Adebayo.

“Today when we walked out there for the national anthem, it was a little bit of a holy cow moment for me,” coach Donny Lind of the Emmitsburg, Maryland, university said.

Another unforgettable moment will likely arrive Friday against one of the nation’s most illustrious teams.

“To go down to Raleigh and play Duke is awesome,” Lind said. “We watched a lot of Duke basketball as kids, just because they were on TV. It’s certainly an exciting opportunity, so we’ve got to get ready and give it everything we’ve got.”

While the Mountaineers ride adrenaline to Raleigh, North Carolina, a handful of disappointed Eagles are coming back to the District of Columbia. American University’s first NCAA Tournament victory remains elusive.

“My guys. Now and forever,” David Aldridge, an American superfan and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame writer, posted on X. “Love this group more than I can say.”

“This is going to hurt for a while, but I’m going to flip the page,” American coach Duane Simpkins said. “We’ve got six very good freshmen coming in, and we’re going to start to develop a game plan of how to get better. We’ll be back.”