City of Basketball Love

By David Comer
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BRYN ATHYN — The Bryn Athyn College men’s basketball team woke up on the morning of December 5 at a crossroads. They had lost the night before at Cairn University to drop their record to 2-6. A season that started with so much promise appeared to be spiraling the wrong way. 

But, to the team’s players and coaches, their confidence never wavered.

“It’s about how you bounce back and handle adversity,” senior Jalen Parker said. “The goal never changed.”

Goal accomplished.

On Saturday before a lively home crowd at the Asplundh Field House, Bryn Athyn completed a remarkable turnaround from its early season troubles to win the United East Conference tournament championship and earn the program’s first-ever bid to the NCAA Division III tournament with a 82-69 win over Notre Dame of Maryland University.

“We always knew we were capable of this,” said coach Sean Westerlund, with the net that he and his players cut down hanging around his neck and his clothes still wet after having the contents of the water cooler dumped on his head by his team. “We had to get rid of the guys who were not on the right bus.”

Westerlund took the difficult step of cutting players from the team who he said were not on that right bus and then revamped the team’s practice schedule to focus more on building team culture. The results have been historic.

Bryn Athyn started its men’s basketball program before the 2013-14 season. Until this year, the Lions had never won a regular-season conference title, a conference tournament championship, 20 games in a season, or earned the aforementioned NCAA tournament berth. Now, they have done all of those things.

“It’s surreal,” said the 33-year-old Westerlund. “I don’t even know what to feel right now. I’m so proud of these guys.”

Westerlund was hired as head coach in April of 2020. What would have been his first season as coach — the 2020-21 campaign — was cancelled due to COVID-19. 

The Lions went from 7 to 11 to 17 wins under Westerlund in his first three seasons on the court to set the stage for this year.

After the final buzzer sounded on Saturday, Westerlund dashed across the court to find his 3-year-old daughter, Gava, who was sitting at halfcourt. He picked up the smiling toddler and hugged her as tears filled his eyes.

“I broke down,” he said. “She means everything to me.”

Westerlund called Gava the “unofficial mascot of the team.” And, perhaps, she is their good luck charm, too.

Bryn Athyn has now won 15 straight games and will bring a 20-8 record into the first-round of the 64-team NCAA tournament on Friday. The Lions have not lost a game in 2025.

But this one wasn’t easy. The two teams did not meet in the regular season due to the 16-team UEC’s unbalanced schedule. 

NDMU, a private Catholic university with approximately 2,000 students located in Baltimore, came out on fire in a fast-paced first half. The Gators built an 8-0 lead. The Lions responded with a 12-0 run. The Gators then had their own 12-0 run.

NDMU eventually built a 33-20 lead with 5:19 left before intermission.

“I think the first 15 minutes we just came out flat,” Parker said.

Bryn Athyn pulled within 40-39 at halftime.

“We didn’t play a great half of basketball, and we were only down 1,” Westerlund said.

The Lions picked up their defensive intensity in the second half and were opportunistic offensively, ultimately building a 68-50 lead that shrunk to 75-67 with 1:03 left to play. An emphatic two-hand dunk by junior guard Will Little with 11 seconds sealed the victory.

“This is amazing,” senior Jakir Hampton said after scoring 16 points on Saturday and being named the UEC tournament MVP. “This is the best feeling in the world. This is why we play. We just have heart. We have faith in each other. We trust in each other.”

Hampton, a 6-foot guard from Smyrna, Del., averaged 23 points per game in Bryn Athyn’s three games in the UEC tournament. The sharpshooter has made 46.3% (63-of-136) from 3-point range this season.

“He’s a stone cold killer,” Westerlund said. “He’s a bucket getter.”

And he’s the typical player on a Bryn Athyn roster that is filled with transfers. Hampton spent two years at Westmoreland County Community College and one year at Central Christian College of Kansas, an NAIA school located in McPherson, Kansas, before settling in at Bryn Athyn. He’s now heading to the NCAA tournament.

“This means everything to me,” Hampton said. “It means the world.”

Parker is another transfer. The athletic 6-foot-8 forward, who started his career at Division II Missouri State Southern University in Joplin, Mo., led the Lions with 22 points and 13 rebounds and played all 40 minutes.

“It means everything,” Parker said of the upcoming trip to the NCAA tournament. “It means all the hard work added up to something special.”

Seven Bryn Athyn players saw action on Saturday. In addition to Parker, senior guard Jalen Jackson also played 40 minutes; he finished with 20 points.

The Bryn Athyn player who was on the court for the shortest amount of time has been on the team the longest. Noah Riley, a senior from Eldersburg, Md., was one of Westerlund’s first recruits.

“I told him that if he came here we’d win a championship,” Westerlund said.

Westerlund has also told his team that people are either torch lighters or torch carriers. He wanted this team to be torch lighters for a program that had yet to enjoy much success in its first decade of existence.

“It’s hard to do something that nobody has ever done before,” Westerlund said.

And on Monday, Westerlund and his team will do something else they’ve never done before. They will gather together at noon to watch the Division III selection show, knowing that they will hear their team’s name called and learn where this historic season will take them next.

“They trust each other, and they trust me,” Westerlund said. “It’s been an absolute joy of a ride.”