Marquette's 'Unbelievable' Run Continues with Trip To Final Four

ST. LOUIS — It was the biggest game in school history, and the boys basketball team was up to the task.

Because of the their brilliant performance in a 66-53 MSHSAA Class 5 state tournament quarterfinal win over CBC Saturday evening at UMSL's Mark Twain Gymnasium, the Mustangs are going to the Final Four for the first time in their school's history.

"This is probably going to be the worst interview (anybody's) ever done," Marquette head coach Shane Matzen said. "Because all I can say is unbelievable. The kids were unbelievable. This game was unbelievable. This whole day was just unbelievable."

And it was the Marquette players that left their coach speechless, after delivering a performance for the ages, which included a school postseason record 11 three-pointers, nearly every one more dramatic than the one before it, as the Mustangs bombarded the Cadets with a barrage of long-range bombs from behind the arc.

"I'm just so proud of my teammates," Marquette star power forward Ryan Rosburg said. "They were hitting everything, so I told them to keep shooting. This is a dream come true. I'm so excited, I don't know what to say."

For once, it wasn't up to Rosburg to have to make a statement for the Mustangs.

Usually the 6-foot-10, 245-pound senior is required to do all the heavy lifting and set the physical and emotional tone for Marquette.

But on Saturday, it was teammates Brooks Gerrity, Chris Lenzen, and Dillon Jones that did all the talking for the Mustangs by hitting nearly every big shot they took to lead Marquette to its biggest win in program history.

Rosburg was still Marquette's leading scorer and rebounder with 16 and 13 in another player-of-the-year kind of effort.

But it was the trio of Gerrity, Lenzen, and Jones who proved to be the stars, after banging home of 11-of-18 three-pointers in what was clearly the Mustangs' best shooting effort of the season.

“A couple of us have been on the same team since we first started playing,” Rosburg said. “We always went to Mizzou to watch the games but never knew if we would get to play there. It’s a dream come true.”

And that dream will begin officially on Thursday evening, when the Mustangs (20-10) will travel to Columbia to play in the Class 5 state semifinals at Mizzou Arena.

"I can't wait to get back there," Matzen said. "I was a team manager back at Mizzou in the late 80s. Most people don't know that. And now to have the chance to be back on Norm Stewart Court, knowing I worked for him back then, is gonna be like I said, unbelievable."