St. Peter’s Miracle Run Ends in Elite Eight

NORTH CAROLINA 69 - St. PETER'S 49

St. Peter's miraculous run through the NCAA Tournament came to a halt Sunday night against the North Carolina Tar Heels, who grabbed an early lead and never looked back, winning going away 69-49.

It was a rough shooting night for the Peacocks, who at one point were 7-of-37 from the field, and finished hitting on 30 percent of their shots (18-of-60). Against a team like North Carolina who terrific players like Armando Bacot and Brady Manek, missing on makable shots cannot happen.

And that is exactly what happened to St. Peter's. The Peacocks missed on their first six shots, four of them from downtown, as the Tar Heels methodically built an early 9-0 lead.

St. Peter's finally responded with 15:52 to go in the first half when Hassan Drame connected on a three-pointer and a layup to make it 9-5. That was as close as St. Peter's would get again for the rest of the night.

North Carolina would later go on a 12-2 run, coupled with a pair of Caleb Love three-pointers to take a 24-9 lead with 6:58 to go in the first half.

After trailing 38-19 at the half, St. Peter's picked it up in the second half, were outscored only by a point, 31-30, as shooting improved.

Fousseyni Drame finished the night with 12 points to lead the way for St. Peter's. K.C. Ndefo led Peacock starters with 10 points on the night.

Bacot led the Tar Heels with 20 points, while Manek contributed 19 points and Love finished with 14 points for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels advance to the Final Four where they will face arch rival Duke next Saturday.