Thursday’s college basketball matchup between the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights and the Long Island University Sharks encountered one of the most bizarre pre-game situations of the season that caused this game to be delayed.
A feature of the Steinberg Wellness Center, the home of the LIU Sharks, is that the away team actually has to take an elevator from its locker room to get down to the court.
Well, you can probably see where this is going. The Fairleigh Dickenson team found itself stuck on the elevator down to the court. That resulted in firefighters being called to get the team out of the stuck elevator.
Firefighters are working on getting FDU players out of a stuck elevator.
The elevator takes the players from the locker room to the court. The Knights’ game at LIU is currently in a delay. pic.twitter.com/jQQlx8QUhr
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 16, 2024
Luckily, nobody was harmed in this situation and the two teams were able to get the game started after a short delay. According to Fairleigh Dickinson player Tyler Jamison, they were stuck in the elevator for 15 minutes before firefighters were able to get them out.
Hearing that it was extremely hot in the elevator and they were in there for 15 minutes.
How is this going to impact Fairleigh Dickinson’s play? Seems rather unprecedented so I really can’t say https://t.co/oSX4zIL71G pic.twitter.com/1vXeZVhIw1
— Coleman Crawley (@SharpshotSelect) February 16, 2024
Fairleigh Dickenson is best known as a program for its win over Purdue last year as a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, arguably the biggest upset in the history of the sport.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON ONIONS! 🏀🧅 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/CkwCNssG3x
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 18, 2023
This led to a hilarious tweet from college basketball broadcaster John Fanta on the situation, alluding to FDU’s upset win over Purdue last year.
“Purdue’s got nothing on FDU,” tweeted Fanta. “But the Knights have met their match in a New York elevator shaft.”
Purdue’s got nothing on FDU. But the Knights have met their match in a New York elevator shaft. https://t.co/GSWrGzeiIW
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) February 16, 2024
Others chimed in with some funny responses on social media referencing FDU’s unusual university name.
Well then.
I'm Fairleigh certain I've never heard of this happening before. https://t.co/CIXBG21ww6
— Bruce Ciskie (@BruceCiskie) February 16, 2024
Suspect #1 Fairleigh obvious 😂 https://t.co/GajSz6TWsl pic.twitter.com/I6KIZW2oDK
— Dan Insinga (@DanInsinga) February 16, 2024
This is fairly ridiculous https://t.co/xaHtB0J311
— Frank Fleming (@NjTank99) February 16, 2024
In all seriousness, this situation obviously could have been much worse. So it is certainly a testament to the firefighters on the scene for getting FDU out of the elevator in a timely manner.
[CBS Sports College Basketball on Twitter/X]
