LIU guard gets his March Madness moment with first career points
By David Wasson
Published:
So much attention is paid to the bold-faced stars and blue-blood programs every year in the NCAA Tournament. But March Madness is truly special to every last participant – big and small.
Just ask LIU’s Eddie Munyak.
The reserve sophomore guard got into just his second career game late in 16th-seeded Long Island’s 92-58 blowout loss against top-seeded Arizona on Friday in the West Region. And Munyak made the most of his opportunity, banking home a 3-pointer for his first collegiate points.
Munyak entered the game with 1:16 to play and had already gotten into the box score when he snared a rebound off a missed Addison Arnold layup attempt. On the other end of the floor is where the magic really happened, as Munyak took a Tre’shawn Sheppard pass along the Sharks bench and cooly called glass for a 3 to make it 90-58.
“He will remember that for a lifetime” TNT play-by-play voice Kevin Harlan intoned. “This is the beauty of the tournament. Some kids play in the final game, but look at that.”
Munyak had only played two minutes all season up to that point, getting in late during LIU’s 83-61 victory over Le Moyne without recording a statistic.
Arizona (33-2) advances to play the Villanova-Utah State winner in Sunday’s second round. LIU, the NEC Tournament champs, ends its season at 24-11.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
