Galloway Township, N.J. (AP) -- On a Sabbath evening, the Yeshiva University men’s basketball team held hands in a circle at a hotel where they gathered for postgame. Smiling, the Maccabees sang in Hebrew: “When the month of Adar begins, joy increases!”
It was the start of what's known as the happiest month in the Jewish calendar, when the joyful holiday of Purim takes place. It was also the start of March Madness. As the sun set, it was hard to tell that just a few hours before, there had been tears in the locker room — the Macs had lost the first game of the NCAA's Division III tournament and a chance to realize their dream of a national championship.
