Richmond men’s basketball beat conference-foe St. Bonaventure Wednesday night. But the Spiders did not beat the snow.
Following the 71-56 win, the team's bus became stuck in a snow bank en route to the airport in Bradford, Pennsylvania, said Will Bryan, associate director of public relations for Richmond Athletics.
The bus driver tried to turn around in a small driveway in a remote area after missing a turn during the roughly 45-minute drive from St. Bonaventure to the airport, Bryan said, but the driver ended up backing into in a snow bank. After multiple attempts to push the bus out of the bank failed, it became evident a tow was needed, Bryan said.
While the Spiders waited to be rescued, they kept their fans updated by live-Tweeting from the scene, using the hashtag #URStuck:
So the Richmond
bus has gotten stuck in a snowdrift. Ummm. Yeah. #URStuck
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
Ryan Butler is
venturing out into the wild. "I'll be back..." famous
last words. #URStuck
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
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S/o to team
manager Emily Cohn who thoughtfully kept all of her devices charged and is
facilitating tonight's tweeting #URStuck
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
great win
against Bonnie's followed by some team bonding stuck in a snowbank
#onerichmond
#URstuck
pic.twitter.com/wUaV4QTP5l
—
Emily Cohn (@Em_Cohn) February
19, 2015
Richmond fans joined in on the live-Tweeting fun, too.
.@urichmond alums in
upstate NY. Send warm thoughts & tow truck if you have one handy to
@RichmondBball
stuck in the snow this eve #URStuck
—
UR Alumni & Career (@URSpiderNetwork) February
19, 2015
Only thing
that'd make @RichmondBball
#urstuck
more thrilling would be if Tarrant got loose on the bus. pic.twitter.com/bF2qEnBRsH
—
Matt Estreich (@MattNBC12) February
19, 2015
The @SportsCenter
number 1 star for the night has to be the tow truck that got @RichmondBball
out of the snow bank. #URstuck
#WErHome
—
Jay DeMayo (@jdemayo) February
19, 2015
Even some VCU fans joined in on the fun. Some were more thoughtful of Richmond’s situation than others:
What happens when you realize you're
paying to much for your education, and you can't transfer anywhere
because you chose UHenrico? #URStuck
—
Rowdy Rams (@RowdyRams) February
19, 2015
In
all seriousness, being stuck in a #LOLean
snowdrift is a terrifying thought I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
Pray for #URStuck.
—
VCU Pav (@VCUPav) February
19, 2015
While the Spiders were stuck, Duke and North Carolina were tangled in what would turn out to be one of the best college basketball games of the season. Many of the players were fixated in the game, Bryan said.
Ryan Butler has
the #UNCvsDUKE
game going for us #URStuck
pic.twitter.com/Ct7ESmsuU1
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
Watching the
game on a iPhone while stuck in the snow #URStuck
—
Dre Jones (@Dre_Ctmd5) February
19, 2015
Man.
It's not our wrecker. And #UNCvDUKE
is in overtime. Well at least we have 5 more mins of distraction. #URStuck
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
Once the game finally ended, players became more restless, Bryan said.
"Think
we'll get there before tomorrow morning?"
"It
is tomorrow morning..."
#URStuck
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
I'm
pretty sure that #URStuck
is trending regionally. I'm pretty sure we're the only ones
tweeting within 50 miles.
— Richmond Basketball
(@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
At 12:13 a.m., after about 90 minutes of waiting, the Spiders were finally free.
WHOOOO!!! We
are no longer #URStuck!
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
The Spiders arrived at the airport about 15 minutes after they had been rescued, Bryan said, and their chartered flight landed in Richmond around 1:45 a.m.
We have landed
in Richmond! One final image of #URStuck
pic.twitter.com/UYIJSlo9OY
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
On Thursday morning, Richmond’s win hadn’t garnered much attention, but its elongated trip to the airport drew coverage from The Washington Post.
The Richmond
men's basketball team got stuck in a snowdrift last night after playing
Bona http://t.co/kMvL8EvVVI
—
Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) February
19, 2015
The Spiders will host George Washington Saturday, but Richmond reached out to the Colonials Wednesday night to jokingly discuss possible schedule changes.
Hey @GW_MBB ...want to
come get us so we can play on Saturday? #URStuck
—
Richmond Basketball (@RichmondBball) February
19, 2015
Contact reporter Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu
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