SAINT BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The men's basketball team over at St. Bonaventure will head to New York City on Sunday to take on Xavier at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
If the Bonnies win, they will go to the NIT championship game, the first time they would do so in 45 years.
To mark such an important game, SBU alumni have raised more than $48,000 so send current students to Tuesday night's game.
An alum who owns Bonaventure Management Inc. — a transportation management company — will supply eight coach buses to take more than 420 students down to New York City at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
That's after the university couldn't find anyone local to help supply buses. All of them within a four-hour radius were completely booked.
However, Meghan Hall — a senior and president on the student government association executive board — said she posted in alumni groups online, and eventually Bonaventure Management LLC. came through.
Hall says students are so excited, and the campus has been electric all week.
"Students, especially upperclassmen, missed out on a lot because of COVID and restrictions and the fact that last year," Hall said. "Last year, there were not really any in-person games beyond the last game in Dayton, so it's a big deal for us, and I think people are super excited to go."
Hall added: "We've done a lot of cool spots, but Madison Square Garden is probably the biggest one of all, the most recognizable, so I think students are pumped to do that. It feels like a once-in-a-lifetime, or once-in-a-collegiate-career, opportunity to go out, so I think students are feeling very hopeful not only to cheer on the basketball team, but also to keep this tight knit SBU community that we have."
Added SBU senior Dominick Grecco, who is driving to the game on Tuesday with friends: "It's Bonaventure basketball. We are a community. I mean, when you go to St. Bonaventure, you're a part of family here, and basketball runs the family. So when you have a chance to go see them play or go talk to alumni, alumni will do anything for students to be at those games, and that's what they did."
It's a big event for the campus community.
"About a quarter of the campus (is going). That's huge. We knew it would happen. Our fans, our alumni are legendary," said Tom Missel, the SBU chief of communications.
"We had an alumni event that we announced last night on social media for 500 people at a large establishment in New York City near Madison Square Garden. It sold out in like 30 minutes, so we had to find another venue to accommodate the overflow. We may need a third venue, that's how many people are going. Those are just people going to the pre-game. There's a lot coming we don't even know about, so we'll have a lot of people. It will sound like the Reilly Center in Madison Square Garden."
For those who can't make it to New York City, there will be several watch parties around town.
One of them is over at the Burton Tavern.