Saint Peter's Cinderella Team Makes History In 2022 NCAA Tournament

The Saint Peter's men's basketball team's Cinderella run through the 2022 NCAA Tournament will continue, with the Peacocks becoming the first 15-seed and highest all-time to make the Elite Eight.

The Peacocks defeated No. 3 Purdue, 67-64, to extend their March Madness run on Friday (March 24) night, setting up an Elite Eight matchup against the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels -- who also advanced with a 73-66 win against UCLA on Friday night -- for Sunday (March 28) afternoon.

Saint Peter's trailed 33-29 at halftime, but forced an early lead change before the teams went back-and-forth for the majority of the second half.

Guard Daryl Banks III made a jumper to put the Peacocks ahead, 59-57, with Saint Peter's outscoring Purdue, 8-5, during the final 2:16 of the game.

Head coach Shaheen Holloway credited an early second half shot-clock violation -- which he was seen celebrating with an overwhelming fist pump on the sideline -- as the momentum shift needed to propel Saint Peter's to continue their historic Cinderella March Madness run.

"That's who we are," Holloway said after the game via ESPN. "That's what unites us. Not hitting a 3-pointer. That's what gets our team going. Once that happened, we have to get everyone excited about doing that. Then we get another one, and another one."

Saint Peter's began its improbable run with an 85-79 upset of No. 2 Kentucky in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, which was followed up by a 70-60 victory against No. 7 Murray State last weekend.

"We're making history and we look forward to making more history," added Peacocks guard Doug Edert, who finished Friday's game with 10 points, including seven from the free throw line.

The Elite Eight matchup between Saint Peter's and UNC is scheduled for 5:05 ET on CBS Sunday.