On Wednesday, March 4th, 2015, the Florida National University (FNU) Conquistadors played in their first ever National Championships. More on the game, but first a little background on the team.
In just their second season of existence, these young men from around the country and as far away as Suriname have bonded together to form a team that is to be reckoned with.
Under the “can do, will do” leadership of Coach Scott Schmidt and his dedicate coaching staff, the FNU Conquistadors – South Florida’s newest men’s college basketball team – finished their second season with 19 Wins and 10 Loses, but it didn’t end there. Playing under the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), they were able to secure a #5 seed and a trip to the 2015 USCAA Men’s Division I Basketball National Championships.
Back to the game …
After securing a five point lead in the first half against the #4 Seed Concorida College Alabama Hornets, the team fought to the bitter end with an astounding three point basket from Conquistador Guard Regan O’Rourke with just seconds left in the game.
The final score: Concordia College – Alabama Hornets 99 and the FNU Conquistadors 93. Top scorers for FNU were Quantavis Hall with 30 pts., Regan O’Rourke with 24 pts., and Yves Goedschalk with 15 pts. For game statistics, please click Box Score.
After a highly stressful week, and a game in which everything was on the line, a very exhausted Coach Schmidt took the time to send the entire university the following email. It was sent at 2:56 am.
“Dear Conquistador Fans,
On behalf of the Athletic Department and the Men’s Basketball Team I wanted to send a special Thank You for the outpouring of support today in our FIRST ever USCAA National Championship game.
Although the outcome wasn’t what we wanted this experience will be cherished for years to come. It was an amazing feeling to represent FNU on a national championship stage and I feel through this experience we have set a standard for Conquistador Athletics! Your overwhelming amount of support and seeing all the pictures from OUR campuses was a sincere symbol of what FNU is all about! The coaching staff, players and entire team is truly appreciative of all your efforts in helping build a first class athletic department.
I also wanted to pass along that Regan O’Rourke was named first team All-American. Quantavis Hall was named 2nd team All-American. Aldor Kola and Yves Goedschalk were both named to the All-American Academic Team.
Thanks again for your support, cheers and participation with the Conquistadors! Have a great rest of the week!
Sincerely,
Scott Schmidt
Athletic Director/Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Florida National University”
Florida National University Conquistadors are big, loud and Hialeah proud.
Go FNU! Go Conquistadors! To the Hilt!
