Cardinal Hall was beginning to fill up at 12:15 p.m. when Bob Hughes had a message for his team.
After all, the six-year head coach of Rosemont’s men’s basketball team had been through this before as a manager with St. Joseph’s teams in the early 2000’s.
“Enjoy this moment,” Hughes said to his team. “It is something you have earned and deserved.”
About 30 minutes later, that reward came in celebratory fist-pumps and claps in front of the big screen at Cardinal Hall when it was revealed that the Ravens will play two-time Division III National Champion Amherst on Friday (5:30 p.m.) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The game will take place at Rochester (N.Y.), which will host Farmingdale State in the other portion of the first weekend bracket.
The Ravens (15-12) will move forward to the NCAA Tournament for the first time after winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference title on Saturday night with a 100-97 road win over Cairn in the title game.
Amherst (23-4) was the top seed in the Northeast regional rankings that were released last Wednesday. The Mammoths won the NESCAC championship on Sunday with a 62-56 win over Hamilton to take the crown.
The Mammoths are lead by 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Grant Robinson, who averaged 16.0 points a game. A pair of talented forwards- sophomore Fru Che and junior Eric Sellew – also average 11 points a game.
Rosemont has been lead by junior guard Keith Blassingale, who averaged 37 points in the Ravens two wins during the CSAC Tournament. Jalil Myers has been strong up front with 10 double-doubles while Jacob Simonson has averaged 11.3 points a game.
Times for the games are expected to be announced later on Monday afternoon.
