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What unites us: Rooting against Duke



Last night, a basketball miracle happened: Stephen F. Austin, a university from ...

*googles Stephen F. Austin*

… Nacogdoches, Texas, which hasn’t spent a second ranked in the AP Top 25 in 36 Division I years, beat No. 1 Duke in Durham in a finish that defied our jaded world.

The ...

*googles Stephen F. Austin mascot*

… Lumberjacks entered the game a 29-point underdog; it’s the first time the Blue Devils lost to an unranked, non-conference opponent in Cameron Indoor since 1983.

But even more wholesome than Duke and its cult of trust fund Krzyzewski-ians not getting their way was the man who laid in the overtime game-winner, senior Nathan Bain.

Bain, from the Bahamas, shared his story with ESPN after the game. It was the most authentic piece of live TV we’ve seen in a while, and somehow made us hate Billy McFarland even more:

“I’m trying real hard not to get emotional. My family lost a whole lot this year. Woo -- not going to cry on TV. My family lost a whole lot this year. I’m just playing this game for them, you know? … My family back home in the Bahamas. I just want to make my country proud.”As he said ‘proud,’ his voice cracked, and all of a sudden all this damn saw dust started floating around the room.

Anyways, in September, his university had set up a GoFundMe for Bain and his family, who had apparently lost everything they owned in Hurricane Dorian.

Before the game, the fund had a few thousand dollars. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fund had $58,000.

As far as we can tell, this is a nice story without a skeptical angle, which means the NCAA will take a wrecking ball to all this soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy the highlights.

 

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