Basketball was less like extravaganza...

9,800 fans welcome teams into new arena

By Joshua D. Scroggin

There was something fishy going down on the corner of Shaw and Woodrow avenues Wednesday night.

A woman won the slam-dunk contest. Someone had 11 fingers. And the public address announcer couldn’t decide if Fresno State center Jack Marlow was indeed himself or his imaginary twin brother “Jake.”

The Save Mart Center hosted its first event, the Bulldog Basketball Extravaganza, introducing 9,800 people to the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

In the main event, the men competed in a 10-minute intra-squad scrimmage, but not before warming up the crowd with a three-point shootout, the dunk contest and a co-ed mixed-roster scrimmage.

“ It’s starting to feel like home,” men’s senior point guard Shantay Legans said about the atmosphere. “Today it felt like a real game. That reminded me that it’s season time, and it’s ready to go.”

Junior guard Veronica Mack nipped Legans in the three-point contest after it appeared both had made 10 shots. Mack’s victory was announced as 11-10.

The women scored another victory over the men when sophomore forward Nikki Wilson won the crowd’s vote over senior Renaldo Major in the dunk contest.

The women attempted dunks on an 8-foot basket, while the men rattled the regulation rim at 10 feet. Wilson got a louder cheer from the crowd for her two Statue of Liberty dunks than Major for his reverse jams.

In the co-ed scrimmage, junior center Mustafa Al-Sayyad Dream-shaked his way to four points, including the game-clinching lay-up as time expired. Al-Sayyad’s team won 16-14 in the 10-minute game.

After most of those in attendance had already filed out of the Arena, the men’s and women’s teams held their own separate scrimmages. Legans said that’s when he and the men’s squad got down to business.

“ We had to take the last scrimmage seriously,” Legans said. “We’ll hear about it [Thursday], so we just sort of picked it up for that a little bit.”

Legans said he couldn’t wait to pick it up a little more, when the student section should be in full effect.

“ We need somebody to paint their shirts, paint their heads, just get wild and make it a real college environment,” Legans said. “That’ll make it a real home-court advantage. That’s what’s gonna make it real fun is that student section.”