Students celebrate GWU win

I’ve made the easy drive from Shelby to Boiling Springs plenty of times.

As soon as I left the office late Wednesday night, I knew this trip to Gardner-Webb would be one I would never forget.

I was right.

The Runnin' Bulldogs impressive 84-68 triumph over No. 20 Kentucky at the hoops’ mecca of Rupp Arena sent a burst of energy on a chilly night across the GWU campus. Students bundled up and filed out of their dorms and apartments following the upset – celebrating the biggest basketball win in the school’s history.

Around 12:30 a.m., I made it inside Paul Porter Arena where nearly 100 strong gathered - the chants and drums kept getting louder as I approached from Main Street.

But it didn’t end there.

The crowd moved and cheered in unison, picking up trumpeters and more students along the way. The route went down to the Clock Tower, through the new on-campus apartments, up College Ave. and to the front of the school on Main Street.

The student’s photo opportunity made for a much-needed pause … GWU police chief Barry Johnson had a Segway. I didn’t.

“You got to let kids be kids. It’s a well-behaved crowd, and we don’t expect any problems at all,” Johnson said. “It’s not everyday you knock off the No. 20 team in the nation. Go Bulldogs!”

The excited - and at the same time orderly - crowd would eventually make their way back to the dorms, but this is the type of win that will no doubt resonate through the season and beyond for the Bulldogs’ faithful.

“They were picking us 8^th in the Atlantic Sun and we upset Kentucky,” junior Brian Grant of Marietta, Ga. said. “Everybody is going to come out and support the ’Dogs now no matter what … it’s going to be huge.”

Huge … the perfect way to describe what happened Wednesday night in Lexington, Kentucky and Boiling Springs.