RALEIGH, N.C. -- The history books might not reflect this, and the final scoreboard certainly didn't, but it's worth noting: Baltimore scared top-seeded North Carolina last night.
The Tar Heels fans had no idea what hit them. It was right in the middle of the national anthem when the loud Mount St. Mary's cheering section blurted out a boisterous "Oh!" You should have seen the blue-clad blue hairs in the stands. Looked as if someone unsweetened their tea.
Baltimore was back in the NCAA tournament, and though none of the three area teams advanced past the first round, nothing that happened in yesterday's lopsided losses diminishes what these teams accomplished this season.
No one captured the emotions and the cumulative achievement better than UMBC coach Randy Monroe. Monroe took over a 7-21 team four years ago. Yesterday he was on the dais, explaining how his team lost in the NCAA tournament. What a great place it was to be.
"I can't be more proud of this group of young men," Monroe said before his voice caught in his throat. It took him a second to continue. He looked up toward the ceiling and then down at his folded hands. "These young men fought hard all year and gave absolutely everything they have. They took me on a fantastic ride."
UMBC, Mount St. Mary's, Coppin State and other area programs that fell just short of an NCAA tournament bid took us all on quite a ride. It was the kind of hoops season Baltimore hasn't seen in a long time, the kind we'd be fortunate to see again any time soon.
So Coppin State lost in the play-in game, and so UMBC fell to Georgetown, 66-47, and so Mount St. Mary's was trounced by North Carolina, 113-74 -- what they did in the weeks and months leading up to this week's games was hardly lessened by the early exits.
I mean, that was Billy Packer and Jim Nantz yesterday on press row, wearing headsets and calling out their names on national TV. Chris Vann. Ray Barbosa. Darryl Proctor. Markus Mitchell. Names even the casual fan back in Baltimore might not have heard until this week.
And on the court, they were streaking back and forth over the large NCAA logo and guarding players from Georgetown and North Carolina, schools with major hardware in their trophy cases. During warm-ups, they couldn't help but steal a peek. "You see them on TV all the time," UMBC senior Brian Hodges said. "It's totally different, though, when you see them in person."
