Somebody tried to get the party started a little too early at Barclays Center on Sunday.
While Duquesne led the A-10 championship game early in the second half against VCU, somehow confetti came falling down from the rafters as play was taking place on the court to the amusement of the fans and broadcasters.
“We can’t see our notes. The players can’t work on this court. Confetti is everywhere! Somebody hit the wrong button!” play-by-play man Kevin Harlan jokingly shouted during the broadcast.
The celebratory streamers appeared to fall mostly into the spectator area and the baseline of the court, while only a small amount seemed to hit the playing area.
The officials quickly stopped the game so that the arena crew could clean up the mess as Harlan pondered on the broadcast whether there would be any left for the tournament winner.
“They’re gonna have to reload it now for the winner? I mean my goodness,” he said.
Everyone was able to laugh about it in the end, especially Duquesne after they captured the A-10 tournament crown and punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 47 years with the 57-51 win.
Duquesne has advanced to the NCAA tournament just five times in the program’s history, and have been given the No. 11 seed to face No. 5 BYU in the first round.
While it didn’t seem to fall right away, there was still some confetti left to help celebrate the monumental win after the final buzzer sounded and Duquesne’s players and staff were on the floor celebrating the accomplishment.
This was the seventh time Barclays Center has hosted the A-10 Tournament and the second consecutive year.
The Brooklyn arena hosted the conference tournament from 2013 to 2016 and again in 2019 and 2023.
Barclays Center is also slated to be one of the first and second-round sites for this year’s NCAA Tournament.