The St. Peter’s University men’s basketball team will be heading to Philadelphia later this week as they enter the Sweet 16 of the NCAA basketball tournament. And as the team advances, Peacocks merchandise is in high demand.

The shelves at the student store “The Nest” are virtually empty as students and alumni try to show off their school pride.

Cory Mezzina says that his father is a proud alumnus of St. Peter’s. He was trying to buy Peacocks gear before Friday’s game.

“The team is doing great. Can’t believe they’ve made it this far. I’m going to take [my father] to the game on Friday in Philly,” Mezzina says.

A few students from nearby Hudson Catholic who also attend classes at St. Peter’s were able to grab some shirts. They say they are proud to be a part of it all.

“It was wiped out when me and my friends walked in and we just grabbed what was there,” says Aidin Marmorato.

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“Honestly, there’s a chance they could win the whole thing, and if they do, it would be a great thing for Jersey City,” says Mariano Padilla.

Randy Tomlin is in charge of merchandise orders at St. Peter’s.

“We also have two specific Sweet 16 shirts on sale Wednesday morning,” he says.

The Nest is currently under renovation. But Tomlin says that the staff has made it work as sales have increased. He says that since the win over Kentucky on Saturday, things have been very busy – but fun.

“As you can imagine, we had a line out the door. People coming in on the weekend. A guy walked in from across the street – never had anything to do with St. Peter’s, but wanted on the bandwagon,” Tomlin says.

The popularity that comes with a Sweet 16 run can be counted not only in t-shirt sales, but also in social media hits. The university says interaction on the school’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts has gone up over 1,000%.

The Peacocks play against Perdue on Friday. The university will have four buses full of students heading to Philadelphia for the game.