Duquesne players, coaches stuck overnight on bus during blizzard
At least the Duquesne men’s basketball team won its game 86-75 at George Mason on Friday afternoon. A loss on the road would have made what came next even more difficult to handle.
The Dukes headed home on the team bus after the game driving through the blizzard that has overwhelmed large portions of the East Coast. The game was actually moved from Saturday to Friday afternoon in hopes of avoiding the storm and situations exactly like this.
The Dukes became stuck along with many others on the Pennsylvania Turnpike while traveling from Fairfax, Va. to Pittsburgh at approximately 9:15 p.m.. And they still hadn’t moved by the time games started in other locations in the east on Saturday morning.
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A nearby fire department made its way out on the highway to deliver bottled water to those who were stuck and also to check on the welfare of all the stranded motorists, truck dirvers and bus passengers. The Dukes seemed to be taking the right approach by having fun with their misfortune.
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Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry did a phone intereview with ESPN in which he said everyone on the team was fine and doing well. He said the team ate immediately after the game and then stopped for food again along the drive home.
“We’ve got a good group of guys and we all kind of hung out and had a good time with each other, watched a movie,” Ferry told ESPN. “Guys were goofing and laughing on their phones and hours turned into hours and hours and hours. The next thing you know, it’s been through the night and 12 hours sitting in the same exact spot. We’re dealing with it. We’re going to be OK.”
Later Saturday morning, some members of the Duquesne party decided to brave the snow and go on a hike for an unconventional connection with a pizza delivery person. Let’s hope they got the food for free or at least at a discounted rate.
Walking to HOPEFULLY have dominos drop off pizza from an overpass. 3/4 mile in 2+ feet of snow pic.twitter.com/tMfuT1d89K
— Duquesne Equipment (@DuqEquipment) January 23, 2016
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
