It was well after midnight when they arrived, only to find that the shop was closed. When Spon called a 24-hour service number, he was informed that the shop assessed a $300 fee for someone to come out and open it. Spon characterized this piece of information as a “shakedown.” He haggled the voice on the other end down to $40.

A half-hour later, a sleepy-looking man arrived to unlock the shop. Holloman found his phone, but they were stuck with the debilitated bus. While Kinley expressed confidence that he could make it back to St. John, others were less certain.

“We’re never going to get home,” said Allmond, a guard from Oxon Hill, Md.

Dinner came in the form of a roadside gas station’s finest provisions. Anderson splurged on a chocolate bar, a can of Pringles and two bottles of Powerade. Allmond devoured an enormous bag of barbecue potato chips. It was 2 a.m.

“I’m so hungry, it tastes like chicken,” Allmond said.

Just after 5 a.m., the bus turned into the team’s apartment complex. The players grabbed their belongings and shuffled away in search of sleep. They had another game in 14 hours.

On to the Next Challenge

When the players began to congregate for their home game against Halifax the next night, Mike Armstrong looked particularly bleary-eyed, which was understandable: He had spent the day making deliveries for a water company.

“I probably got an hour of sleep,” he said.

Back when the Mill Rats moved to town, Armstrong worked as one of the team’s ball boys. No one cared much about basketball at the time, he said. Like most of his teenage friends, Armstrong played hockey. But the Mill Rats slowly went about building their brand.