American college basketball players from Farleigh Dickinson University found themselves in a tight spot ahead of Thursday’s away game against Long Island University — quite literally.
The start of the Division I Northeast Conference game was delayed after several FDU players became stuck in a cramped elevator at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn and had to be extricated with help from the New York City Fire Department.
“The lights went off and we were just like, ‘Oh, no’,” FDU player Ansley Almonor told ESPN.
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“We’re trying to press the button and the button lights weren’t coming on. It was crazy.
“One of my teammates was in there with me, he was claustrophobic. He panicked a little bit, but for me, it wasn’t nothing too bad. It was just getting hot though. It was getting really, really hot. We were sweating in there.”
Footage on social media showed the players eventually climbing out of the elevator one at a time before the game got underway 17 minutes after the scheduled start time.
“Thanks to the @FDNY for getting us out safely to play some @nechoops!” the team wrote, to which the fire department replied: “Ready for any emergency!”
Safely out of the elevator, the Knights came from behind to pip the LIU Sharks in overtime, 84-82.
There were 25 lead changes over the course of the tight contest but, with the scores tied at 79-79, Heru Bligen, Terrence Brown and Almonor — who passed 1,000 career points for FDU during the game — all scored in overtime as the Knights improved to 12-14 on the season.
Luckily, most were able to see the funny side of the pre-game incident.
“Going UP!” the team posted on social media after the win. “Just not in that elevator.”
