Wednesday, October 24, 2007

ECU schedules N.C. Wesleyan ... again!


Die-hard N.C. Wesleyan sports fans might just remember this date: Nov. 27, 1989.

That Monday evening, the Battling Bishops men's basketball team took on East Carolina University at Minges Coliseum and came away with a shocking 70-69 victory .... a little Div. III school knocking off a Div. I institution.


As if we weren't high enough after winning a Div. III baseball national championship five months earlier.

Former Northern Nash star forward Marvin Macklin put the Bishops on his back and guided them to the most unlikeliest of victories.

I was there, as were about 60-70 other Wesleyan fans who trekked over to Greenville in hopes of seeing an upset - and we got it. As a Wesleyan alum, I can't remember anything, at the time, being more joyous. We were beside ourselves!

The look on Don Scalf's face, the man who started the men's hoop program at NCWC, was priceless. One for the ages, most Wesleyan fans would say. That team, coached by Bill Chambers, went on to post a 20-6 record.

Well, NCWC has found itself on East Carolina's schedule once again.

The two programs will hook up for the first time since 1991 on Tues., Nov. 20 at a now-bigger Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The Pirates lead their series 3-1.

I'm ready for another upset!

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