Cecelia FranciscoWith two and six tenths of a second left on the clock. The score is 57-56 Neumann College. Sophomore Dan Clemens is fouled and goes to the line. As the Cabrini fans sit in dead silence, the Neumann fans yell, scream and make cat calls at Clemens as he takes his shot. Swoosh! The score is tied 57-57 and Clemens still has one more shot left.
A barrage of Neumann fans rush over to the Cabrini side of the Nerney field house to taunt Clemens as he prepares for his next shot. As he took his shot, fans from both Cabrini and Neumann held their breath waiting for what was sure to be a heart-stopping finish. And sure enough, Clemens made his last shot, giving Cabrini a 58-57 victory over Neumann in a Pennsylvania Athletic Conference game on Wed. Feb. 5.
The win was bittersweet in more ways than one. Of course there is the rivalry between Cabrini and Neumann after last year’s PAC championship game, but it also gave head coach John Dzik his 450th career win on his birthday. The win gave the Cavaliers sole possession of first place in the PAC and improved the Cavs record of 13-6 overall and 8-2 in the PAC.
Senior Brian Wood said that he was hyped up for the game all day. “During the game, we played with so much emotion because the first time we played Neumann, we didn’t play well at all. This time, we had our crowd behind us, so we were confident we would play well,” Wood said.
The Cavs traveled to Misericordia on Sat. Feb. 8 to battle against the Cougars and all-American Willie Chandler. “The momentum of the game went back and forth throughout the entire game,” said Wood. With 14 seconds left on the clock, the Cavs were down by one point. “Coach called a play, and we ran it. Ty Teasley was able to get off a pretty good shot, but missed. We fouled them, and they managed to make their foul shots with 1.5 seconds left on the clock. We ran another play and I threw the ball the length of the court, and we got off a great shot but unfortunately missed,” Wood said. Although the Cavs lost 69-66 it was the type of loss that “everyone can live with,” Wood said. “We all worked hard towards the end.” The loss put the Cavs in second place in the PAC behind Neumann.
