While all eyes of the college basketball world were on Caitlin Clark breaking the NCAA women's scoring record last night, absurdity struck a men's college game on the East Coast.
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According to an X post from Fox broadcaster and reporter John Fanta, Thursday night's game between Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island had to be delayed because FDU players got stuck in an elevator coming from the locker room to the court.
Breaking: Tonight’s game between Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island University at LIU is in a delay because FDU players are stuck in an elevator coming from the locker room to the court. Firemen are on the scene trying to get FDU players out of the elevator now: pic.twitter.com/cujbz2alFy
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) February 16, 2024
"Breaking: Tonight's game between Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island University at LIU is in a delay because FDU players are stuck in an elevator coming from the locker room to the court. Firemen are on the scene trying to get FDU players out of the elevator now," Fanta wrote, along with a picture of firemen on scene who were attempting to open the elevator.
The firemen's efforts were ultimately successful, and Fairleigh Dickinson's roster managed to make it to the court, after all — although the game was delayed about 15 minutes as a result of the elevator malfunction.
Fairleigh Dickinson clearly wasn't too shaken up by the strange start to their evening, as the team ultimately defeated Long Island 84-82 in overtime. The team's X account even had some fun with the elevator incident.
Going 🆙! Just not in that elevator.#KnightsWin | #uKNIGHTED pic.twitter.com/udPy6EyrdG
— FDU Men's Basketball (@FDUKnightsMBB) February 16, 2024
While this elevator mishap went viral, the fame Fairleigh Dickinson garnered from it pales in comparison to when they pulled off one of the most improbable upsets in sports history, defeating the No. 1 seed Purdue team in the NCAA Men's Tournament last March.
That 63-58 win against Purdue made Fairleigh Dickinson the second 16-seed in the NCAA tournament to ever defeat a top-ranked team, with the first being the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) team that defeated Virginia back in 2018.
Considering that Fairleigh Dickinson is 12-14 on the season, it doesn't look likely they they'll make the NCAA tournament this season — which must be good news for Purdue fans.
Fairleigh Dickinson's first order of business is getting past that elevator, although they probably decided to take the stairs back down to their locker room after the overtime win.
