It's funny how things can work sometimes in sports.

Monmouth lost a game at Mount St. Mary's on March 2 and then had to wait to find out what happened up in New Jersey, whether or not rival Fairleigh Dickinson, itself just knocked out of the battle for the eighth and final NEC tournament spot, could knock off Saint Francis (Pa.).

Word came that Manny Ubilla, who hit a 3-pointer to send Monmouth on a path out of the playoff picture last year, had nailed one at the overtime buzzer, sending Saint Francis (Pa.) home and allowing Monmouth, the conference champs just two seasons ago, to avoid a second straight year out of the NEC tourney.

The Hawks managed to get in, and the reward was a trip to the Pittsburgh area for a game with top-seeded Robert Morris.

"We got the help," Monmouth coach Dave Calloway said on the league's pre-tourney media conference call. "I guess it was good to get into the tournament, and we're excited to be in."

Late in the year, Calloway called his team an "almost" team, and the Hawks, who were hit with No. 2 scorer Jhamar Youngblood quitting the team with two games left, almost didn't make it. But they got there, and Calloway knows firsthand the dangers of being the No. 1 team. No top seed has ever lost to a No. 8, but, as the coaches points out, "We needed a buzzer-beater to beat Central Connecticut" as a No. 1.

This task seems daunting, but, while Robert Morris did beat Monmouth twice during the season, one was a one-point game, that one in New Jersey.

"There are no easy games," RMU coach Mike Rice said.

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