There were no video scoreboards, pyrotechnics or elaborate team introductions when the Johns Hopkins men?s basketball team hosted Guilford (N.C.) last Saturday in the NCAA Division III tournament?s second round.
But what the game lacked in flash, it easily made up for in passion, desire and everything else that March Madness represents on the Division I level. None of the players competing that night had any professional basketball ambitions, and they left all their emotions on the court. This was especially true for the seniors who knew a loss would signal the end of their careers.
Guilford used its distinct size advantage to jump out to a 44-31 halftime lead. But the 698 fans, includingrepresentatives from a number of Johns Hopkins? other sports teams, packed into the tiny 1,200-seat Goldfarb Gym and refused to give up on the hometown Blue Jays. The fans, many of whom were decked out in Columbia blue T-shirts with “The Nest” written across it, made the arena rock like Maryland’s 17,950-seat Comcast Center.
“The coaching staffs went out of their way to pump this game up for their athletes and support each other,” said Hopkins longtime coach Bill Nelson, whose team won a school-record 24 games this season. That’s what we do around here. I’ve never heard noise like this in 21 years here. I give the fans a lot of credit for pushing these guys right to the brink.”
As the sense of urgency became apparent, the game got extremely physical, with a lot of pushing and shoving going on underneath the basket. Hopkins senior forward Danny Nawrocki let those emotions boil to the surface with a fist pump to the crowd when he scored and got fouled to pull his team within 73-67 with 2:44 remaining.
At the same time, the fans, who paid no more than $6 for a ticket and were almost right on the court, rode the officials for questionable calls and got on the opposing players a la Duke?s Cameron Crazies. While most of the cheering was good-natured, a few fans did get too emotional with some borderline obscene chants too vulgar for print.
“It was a great experience to be part of this team,” Nawrocki said. “The fans were unbelievable. The student-athletes are so close, and all of the other teams came out to support us. It really means a lot to us. It’s a great community, and we really appreciated everyone coming out to see us play.”
In the end, the small, but vocal, group of Guilford fans got the last laugh with a 80-73 victory. The subdued Hopkins crowd quietly exited the arena while the Guilford contingent went onto the court and chanted, “Sweet Sixteen! Sweet Sixteen!”
Guilford coach Tom Palombo said playing in those type of games and environments is what sports is supposed to be about ? regardless of the level.
“This was so much fun,” he said. “You like it when you go on the road to play in front of a lot of people, even if they are rooting against you. It was a great college basketball experience.”
Ron Snyder is a staff writer for The Examiner. He can be reached at [email protected].
