DAYTON, OHIO -- With 16.6 seconds to go last night, Mount St. Mary's coach Milan Brown began clapping his hands.
Pounding them, really. It sounded like a whip cracking.
Even above the roar of the crowd, you could hear Brown clapping, as months and years of emotion spilled out of him. Those claps echoed throughout Dayton Arena, and in one sense, they echoed all the way back to Emmitsburg.
Brown had reason to be proud. He had just watched his Mountaineers get their first NCAA tournament victory, defeating Coppin State, 69-60, in front of an announced 8,464 in the tournament's play-in game.
"I was just really excited for our guys," Brown said when asked what was going through his head in the final seconds. "I was really excited for our fans who made the trip, and for the ones who couldn't. ... I was just really excited for our players, but more so proud of them."
The Mountaineers shot just 34.5 percent from the field, including five of 20 in the second half. But they did enough to overcome a strong effort by the Eagles, who led 35-34 at halftime.
The win earned Mount St. Mary's a matchup Friday with North Carolina, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. For the moment, however, Brown just wanted the chance to soak up the emotional win over Coppin State because it could have easily gone the other way.
"We felt like early we gave them entirely too many easy baskets," Brown said. " ... We just had to keep playing. I didn't want to be too emotional because if I was going crazy, they were going to go crazy."
Mount St. Mary's point guard Jeremy Goode provided all the calm the Mountaineers needed. The Charlotte, N.C., native scored 21 points and added five assists. He grew up watching the Tar Heels on TV, dreaming of wearing Carolina blue.
"Watching all their great players, it's going to mean a lot to be able to play against them," Goode said.
"It's something I envisioned when I was a kid."
So many shots looked as if they were going in but somehow spun out at the last second. It happened to both teams, but it happened more often to Coppin State.
"It was disappointing because you know you're getting good shots and you're used to making those shots," Eagles forward Antwan Harrison said. "You think you made it, then you see it roll out and they're going the other way. But at the same time, we should have buckled down and made the stops that would have gotten us the win, and we didn't."
Coppin State began the game with a statement of purpose -- two emphatic dunks by senior forward Robert Pressey on its first two possessions. Both came courtesy of a perfect pass by a teammate, an early omen that the Eagles would share the basketball and finish with authority much of the first half, during which they shot 53 percent.
Goode and Chris Vann both made transition three-pointers to help the Mountaineers close the gap before halftime, and in the second half, Mount St. Mary's pounded the glass, getting 15 rebounds from sophomore Kelly Beidler in the game.
Coppin State pulled within 64-60 with one minute remaining on a three by Julian Conyers, but free throws and rebounds ended up being the difference.
Mount St. Mary's made 26 of 32 from the line and out-rebounded Coppin State 41-34.
"If you're hungry, that's it," said Coppin State senior guard Tywain McKee, who led the Eagles with 15 points.
"And they were a little more hungry than us."
kevin.vanvalkenburg@baltsun.com