The Fairleigh Dickinson men’s basketball team struggled heading into Thursday’s meeting with Long Island University.
The game between the Knights and Sharks had to be postponed after FDU players got stuck in an elevator trying to get from the locker room to the court at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn.
The players spent 15 minutes in a “hot” elevator. They were eventually rescued by the FDNY.
Jordan Sarnoff, special assistant to the athletic director at Fairleigh Dickinson; told ESPN The elevator “stopped”.
“The student-athletes were calm and talking as a group,” Sarnoff said.
The Northeast Conference contest was delayed about 17 minutes before things finally got underway.
The delay didn’t seem to give the Sharks much of an advantage, and FDU still ultimately defeated LIU 84-82 in overtime.
Fairleigh Dickinson made national headlines last season when it defeated No. 1 seed Purdue in the NCAA Tournament, becoming the second No. 16 seed in tournament history to defeat a No. 1 seed.
Fox Sports University Basketball Analyst John Fanta poked fun at the situation Thursday night. In a post to Xalluding to the elevator drama and last year’s win over Purdue.
“Purdue has nothing on FDU. But the Knights played in an elevator shaft in New York,” Fanta said jokingly.
FDU was not the first college basketball team in recent memory to become trapped in an elevator. University of Miami men’s team falls into trap During last year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Hurricanes were trapped in an elevator for 30 minutes after a defensive-minded meeting before their come-from-behind victory against Houston.
